Rajasthan Royals have stumbled in their first game out of Sharjah. Chasing 175 runs set by Kolkata Knight Riders, Royals finished 37 runs short. Speaking at the end of the game, Rajasthan captain Steve Smith admitted that nothing happened according to the plan.
Chasing a challenging target, Rajasthan Royals never looked in line to chase down the target. The credit goes to the Kolkata Knight Riders bowlers for putting out a complete performance. The Indian duo of Shivam Mavi and Kamlesh Nagarkoti was excellent before Pat Cummins drew the first blood removing Steve Smith.
Rajasthan drop points for the first time
An excellent bowling effort was well-matched with brilliant fielding from the likes of Shubman Gill and Nagarkoti. Tom Curran was the highest scorer with an unbeaten 54 for Rajasthan but it was not enough to secure them a win. However, those crucial runs, in the end, will help the Royals to improve their net run rate.
Batting first in Dubai, Kolkata Knight Riders managed 174 runs in their quota of 20 overs against Rajasthan Royals. The Royals pulled it back after KKR had gotten off to a decent start. Jofra Archer was spectacular with the ball and skipper Steve Smith used him to perfection.
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Things didn’t go according to plan – Steve Smith
Kolkata Knight Riders promoted Andre Russell at No.4 but he couldn’t capitalise and departed after a few hits. Meanwhile, if not for Eoin Morgan’s composure to bat out the innings, KKR would have struggled to get past 160. He remained unbeaten on 34 runs from 23 balls including one boundary and two sixes to stretch Kolkata Knight Riders innings.
The score proved to be enough as Rajasthan Royals failed to chase down the score. Reacting to their first defeat of IPL 2020, Steve Smith admitted that things didn’t go according to the plan. He also cited that there are few areas they need to improve before their next game.
“Didn’t quite go to plan. That happens in T20 cricket sometimes, we have a few areas to improve on, and keep moving forward. You could go one way or another, KKR like to chase. We planned to put their death bowling under pressure but obviously couldn’t do that as we lost wickets upfront. Few of still thought we are playing in Sharjah,” Steve Smith said.