We Could Not Keep The Foot On The Pedal: Steve Smith On Rajasthan Royals' Eight-Wicket Defeat To SRH

A distraught Steve Smith was the focus as SunRisers Hyderabad consigned Rajasthan Royals to an eight-wicket defeat in Dubai on Thursday. Manish Pandey and Vijay Shankar took the game away from the Rajasthan Royals after Jofra Archer delivered a couple of lusty blows by removing Jonny Bairstow and David Warner cheaply. Steve Smith lamented letting the SunRisers off the leash.

Rajasthan Royals got off to a reasonably good start as Robin Uthappa went after the bowlers; however, his run-out hugely dented their innings. Ben Stokes, in particular, consumed 32 balls for his 30 runs, leaving the likes of Jos Buttler, Steve Smith, and Riyan Parag under pressure. Jos Buttler, who received the man of the match award in the last game, could manage only nine runs as the Royals finished with 154 off their 20 overs.

Despite losing David Warner and Jonny Bairstow cheaply, Manish Pandey and Vijay Shankar did not let the tempo slow down. Manish Pandey launched an onslaught while Vijay Shankar began slowly, he went for the big shots once settled, combining for an unbeaten 140-run stand. With the eight-wicket victory, SunRisers Hyderabad moved to the fifth spot while Rajasthan Royals slipped to the seventh position.

“In hindsight, yeah, should have bowled a third straight over” : Steve Smith

Steve Smith highlighted their dream start, having dismissed David Warner and Jonny Bairstow; however, they let the foot off the pedal. The 31-year old also underlined that the wicket kept getting better for batting and there was dew on offer that made life difficult for the bowlers. Smith also thought that there was a chance of Jofra Archer bowling one more over after a red-hot two-over spell at the start.

“I thought we started really well. Jofra obviously taking the tow big wickets early. But we couldn’t keep the foot on the pedal. The wicket got better. There was a fair bit of dew on for some reason. The third over for Jofra was on my mind, discussed it with a couple of guys. In hindsight, yeah, should have bowled a third straight over,” Smith told in the post-match presentation.

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