Steve Smith Blames Lack Of Partnership For Loss Against Delhi Capitals

Rajasthan Royals slumped to another loss in the IPL 2020 as they were outclassed by Delhi Capitals in all departments. Their loss in Sharjah comes after they clinched victories in two consecutive matches at the same venue. Rajasthan Royals captain Steve Smith has blamed lack of partnership for poor show against Delhi Capitals.

Chasing the target of 185 runs, Rajasthan Royals lost Jos Buttler early as Yashasvi Jaiswal continue to build on a slow innings. Steve Smith contributed 24 off 17 balls and Rahul Tewatia hit a quick-fire 29 but Rajasthan Royals fell shorts of the target by 46 runs.

There are plenty of areas that we need to work on: Steve Smith

Steve Smith appreciated Tewatia for his brilliant bowling performance but pointed out that there are plenty of areas the team should work on with the batting order struggling. He also mentioned that while chasing the 180-run target on board, the team needed to string up some partnerships which they failed to do.

“I think the wicket did slow down a bit, probably it was not that good as it was in our first two games, but having said that, we probably let them off the hook in the first innings, we probably let them get 10-15 too many.

During the chase, we lost wickets again, I got out, we just kept on losing wickets at regular intervals, and chasing 180 odd on a wicket that has slowed up is not easy. We always knew 180 would be a tough chase, we needed to string together partnerships but we were not able to do that,” Smith said during the post-match press conference.

“Rahul Tewatia bowled really well, he summed up the conditions nicely, he was able to read the batsmen, he did a terrific job with the ball, he hit a few in the middle with the bat in hand, he is a valuable player for us,” Smith said while talking about Rahul Tewatia.

“There are plenty of areas that we need to work on, our batting has not been good enough, our top-three have not scored big runs in the last three games and that has been disappointing, there is some execution stuff with the ball as well, it is not an easy game, after all, we are doing something wrong and that is hurting us,” Smith signed off.

By the virtue of the loss, Rajasthan Royals slumped to second last position in the IPL 2020 points table.