LSG were reduced to 29/3 in their chase of 179 against RR. © BCCI/IPL
KL Rahul's Lucknow Supergiants and the Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan Royals had a lot riding on their clash at the Braboune Stadium on Sunday (May 15). Had LSG won the match, they would have reached 18 points with no other side below them having the possibility of getting as many, they'd have been guaranteed a top-two finish.

However, another poor show with the bat meant that they failed to chase down 179, finishing with only 154 for 8, which not only allowed the Royals to come level with on points but also move up to the second spot thanks to a superior net run rate.

With both sides on 16 points, their respective last matches will determine who finishes second, and LSG is also in danger of not having two direct chances of making it to the final after their loss to the Royals. Rahul admitted that the pressure is now on his team to press on, with the side losing two games in succession for the first time.

"I won't lie, yes, there is a bit of pressure. We all know in this competition nothing comes easy and no point comes easy, and we've had to learn that the hard way. We could have so easily been sitting today and could have qualified and gone into the last game with a free mindset and try to enjoy our cricket," Rahul said at the post match press conference after the 24-run loss.

"But obviously we are in a position where we have to win the next game. I think it's good, we all know every game is important, every game brings its pressure and challenges, and it's one more game for us to challenge ourselves as a team and try to win that game and carry that momentum forward and get some confidence out of the next game," he added.

LSG lost early wickets in the PowerPlay and were reduced to 29/3 in the sixth over of the chase. Rahul, naturally, put the blame on the failure of the top order, which left the middle order with too much to do despite Deepak Hooda scoring a 39-ball 50 and Marcus Stoinis striking a 17-ball 27. Speaking about Stoinis batting down the order, Rahul said the team's intention was to utilise his finishing skills to the best possible extent but he said the top order was responsible for not making their jobs easier.

"What we're trying to do is utilise players who will best suit the situation. And for us Marcus is one of those players. He has that brute force and we know that he can be really dangerous at the back end. So we just tried to hold him back a little bit. We've given everybody different roles and it depends on which over someone gets out and who walks in. So we've kept it slightly flexible with the batting roles. This is the role we picked him to do, which is to be a finisher for us. And even today he batted really well, he's showing that he can really win us games single-handedly.

"But you need someone to support him at the other end. He needs and the team needs the top order to set up the game for someone like Stoinis and Jason [Holder] to come in and finish games. Which hasn't happened, unfortunately. That's the plan and that's how we've tried to use our players. Having said that, (you) might even see Stoinis batting up the order in the next game or the coming games where we give him more overs to play and give him a chance to go out there and be the dangerous Stoinis that he is," Rahul said.

Meanwhile, the Royals needed a quick turnaround following their loss to Delhi Capitals in the previous game and they managed to do that by focusing on playing fearless cricket and not putting any pressure on themselves, according to Samson.

"To be very honest there is nothing much to be discussed," replied Samson when asked about the discussions after the loss to DC. "You have seen the way we have been playing, 12-13 games have been completed. We have been playing really good cricket throughout the tournament. In tournaments like IPL it's very normal to win and lose games. But when you lose games it's very important not to doubt yourself or allow fear to come in.

"So I think we tried our best to keep it very simple, keep it very light. The atmosphere in the dressing room and whatever meetings we were having, I think we were wanting to keep it very chill as possible. And keep on reminding the team how good we are. That's what we talked about mostly after the Delhi match."

Jos Buttler fell early in the innings while not a single batter crossed fifty. Yet, the Royals managed to post a competitive total thanks to the collective effort of their batting order, with Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Devdutt Padikkal leading the contributions.

"That's what our team is all about. If you look at the win today, each and everyone who went in to bat showed intent and contributed around 10-20 runs which was very crucial in this game. If you look at our team we have a lot of match-winners, match-winners in the sense that they go and play their role in that particular moment. Be it only three-four overs remaining or in the PowerPlay, it's only about doing your role and sticking to it," said Samson.

"Our main discussion was if you are playing a batsman short, we backed Jimmy Neesham to play at No. 6 today. Normally if you play a tournament like this, you normally think about your batting order - you feel like if you don't have a batsman you need to take the game deep or play slow to have wickets in hand. But we wanted to think different from that. We wanted to go out there and express ourselves, no matter if we get all out for 140 or 150, we wanted to go out there and play some positive cricket. Today I think it really came off well," Samson said.