Steve Smith Laments Losing Wickets In Clumps As Rajasthan Royals Suffer Their Fifth Defeat In IPL 2020

Rajasthan Royals’ skipper Steve Smith has not enjoyed the best of the times with the bat after two fifties in the first couple of games. Steve Smith’s Rajasthan Royals suffered their fifth defeat in eight matches, making their chances further challenging to qualify for the playoffs. Following the loss to the Delhi Capitals by 13 runs, Smith rued the starts not being converted to match-winning scores.

Steve Smith’s captaincy has undoubtedly been spot-on, his management of the bowlers, and field placings. However, Rajasthan Royals need him to contribute significantly with the bat, having managed single-figure scores in the last many innings. The 31-year old could manage only a single as the Royals lost to the Capitals after having their neck in the front for the most part of the game.

In pursuit of 162 on a sluggish wicket in Dubai, Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes got the Royals off to a flyer. The openers, Sanju Samson, and Robin Uthappa all received starts; however, none could stay and go on to make a big score to drive the Royals over the line. Eventually, it all came down to Rahul Tewatia and the spells by Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada were too much for him at the end.

“Guys kept getting in and kept getting out, and not making 60-odd to see us through” : Steve Smith

Steve Smith underlined that the slowness in the wicket made it challenging for them to scale the target. At the same time, he lauded Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes for getting them off to a flyer before losing wickets in clumps. The New South Wales batsman particularly rued throwing away starts and admitted that they need to move on quickly to get a victory under their belt.

“Disappointing one. Obviously the wicket slowed up a fair but, but we got off to a good start with Jos and Stokesy. Then Sanju and Stokesy got partnership going but we lost too many wickets. On a slow wicket it is difficult to make up runs in the end. We needed to take it deep with set batsmen. Guys kept getting in and kept getting out, and not making 60-odd to see us through. The guys that have the air speed have had the most success. Jofra has been brilliant for us so have Nortje and Rabada for Delhi. We are not in a great position, are we? We have got to quickly move on and come back with a big game in three days time,” Smith said in the post-match presentation.

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