Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson has admitted that his team was at least 20-25 runs short after they managed only 171-4 against defending champions Mumbai Indians at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on Thursday.
Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube all got off to starts but none of them could go past the 50-run mark.
Furthermore, Rajasthan Royals couldn’t finish on a high and they were well short of a par score. Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube were well settled at 42 and 35 runs respectively but both of them were dismissed at a wrong time.
On the other hand, Mumbai Indians were able to chase down the target with ease as they won by seven wickets with nine balls to spare.
Quinton de Kock scored 70 runs from 50 balls with the help of six fours and two sixes and thus got back into form, which was a big positive for the defending champions. Furthermore, Krunal Pandya contributed with 39 runs from 26 balls to help his team get over the line.
Sanju Samson said in the post-match presentation, “Surely, a few runs short, maybe around 20-25 runs short. We were going on nicely (with the bat), but didn’t finish well. The bowlers have been doing their job well, but as batsmen, we need to get them a good score to defend. It was a good wicket, the ball was coming on nicely and they (MI) batted really well, as a team, we will need to score more runs as a batting group. Trust yourself, play positive and fearless cricket – that’s all one should do”.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan Royals couldn’t add pressure with the ball. Rajasthan Royals have now won only two matches out of the six they have played and they will need to turn the tables in the coming games. RR will need to come up with a collective effort and their batting has let the team down.
In fact, Rajasthan depends heavily on the shoulders of Sanju Samson, David Miller and Jos Buttler to do the bulk of the scoring for them. Rajasthan Royals will next face Sunrisers Hyderabad at the same venue of Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on 2nd May.
