Rajasthan Royals stumbled once again to lose points against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium. Bangalore chased down 155 runs quite convincingly with eight wickets in hand. Speaking at the end of the game, Steve Smith blamed poor effort with the bat as the reason behind their defeat.
Meanwhile, in pursuit, Royal Challengers Bangalore looked in course with Devdutt Padikkal leading the charge. Although they lost Aaron Finch, skipper Virat Kohli hit the strides finally to take the game away as Steve Smith looked clueless.
Rajasthan drop points again
They added 99 runs for the second wicket to see their team as Rajasthan Royals bowlers found it difficult to contain runs. Both Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal reached their individual fifties before a Jofra Archer yorker knocked off the youngster. But it was too late by then, as Kohli took home the Royal Challengers Bangalore convincingly.
Rajasthan Royals skipper Steve Smith had to deal with early tremors after opting to bat first. Royal Challengers Bangalore were exceptional with the new ball reducing Rajasthan Royals to 31 for three sending three big guns – Steve Smith, Jos Buttler, and Sanju Samson packing.
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But Mahipal Lomror, who played his first game in IPL 2020, made full utilisation of the opportunity with a much-needed 49-run knock. He shared small partnerships with Robin Uthappa and Riyan Parag to take the score above 100. But it was the late impetus from Rahul Tewatia and Jofra Archer that helped Rajasthan to cross the 150-run mark.
However, it was not enough in the end, as Royal Challengers Bangalore overhauled the target easily. Talking at the post-match presentation ceremony, Steve Smith said that batters didn’t put enough runs on the board. He also highlighted the importance of the contribution from the top-order.
“We could have done a lot better. Didn’t get enough runs on the board, it was a good wicket. We couldn’t get a partnership together. Jofra bowled exceptionally, our leggies bowled well, but we didn’t have enough on the board. Our top 3 should be doing the job a lot more.
The last two games it’s cost us. We bat quite deep, but our top 3 need to bat longer and get ourselves into the innings,” Smith said.
Adding further, Steve Smith stated that they will have to work on certain areas before the next game. The Aussie also highlighted that extreme heat in the UAE can take a toll on the performance of the players.
“Just a few areas which we’ve to work on and we’ll go back and look at those. It was very hot, you come back for a two and takes a bit longer to get your oxygen back,” Smith added.