IPL 2018: We Could've Bowled Better in the Powerplay: Ravichandran Ashwin

A 15-run win takes Rajasthan Royals (RR) to the sixth spot in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). With this victory, points table looks quite exciting as the lucrative Twenty20 approaches to its final leg. Ravichandran Ashwin will be highly disappointed as they came very close to winning, courtesy a brilliant knock yet again by KL Rahul, who’s in red-hot form.

It was a day for the wicket-keepers as Royals’ Jos Buttler had the last laugh.

The opener in the form of Buttler, who has been hitting the ball well, took matters into his own hands. The English batsman provided a solid start to the struggling hosts at the home venue.

Very clean striker of the ball, Buttler hit nine fours and a six to get to 82 off 58 balls. The hosts made 158 for eight after slowing down a bit in the death overs.

At one stage 170 looked certain but Andrew Tye’s four for 34 restricted the Royals to what can be said a good score on a difficult wicket.

Ashwin in no mood to give up –

At the end of the game, Ashwin said that he felt the bowlers could have put up a better show, especially during the powerplay overs.

The visitors were in a spot of bother at one stage, after having lost six of their wickets with just 81 on the board.

“Maybe eight runs more than the par, but I thought it was a 160 wicket. We lost too many wickets earlier, but we could’ve bowled better in the Powerplay.” the skipper said during a post-match presser.

Even though Punjab has succumbed to a few defeats of late, Ravichandran Ashwin feels they are comfortably placed.

“As the ball was getting older, it got tougher to bat on. We were contemplating myself coming to bat at No. 3, just an experiment. We do have limitations, but we’re trying to counter it with different combinations. Hopefully, it’ll all settle through. Not worried, six wins in ten games, we’ll take it.” he added.

Royals though could have won the game by a better margin as that would have helped them stay up with a decent run rate. But a win at a crucial phase in the league is all they wanted tonight.

Also, Read: IPL 2018: Virat Kohli Posts Heartwarming Message for His RCB Teammates