IPL 2019 | We did not bowl as per our plans, says Ajinkya Rahane
Ajinkya Rahane was disappointed with yet another loss for his team Rajasthan Royals and put the blame on the bowlers’ failure to stick to plans on a pitch assisting bowlers. The Royals struggled to reach 139, whereas the Kolkata Knight Riders batsmen chased down the target in under 14 overs.
The Rajasthan Royals were gearing up for the Andre Russell challenge in what was a crucial match for them after they could manage just one victory in four matches. But the story turned out to be very different, as KKR bowled extremely well to restrict the Royals to a meekly 139, in spite of the fact they had only lost three wickets.
The RR batsmen struggled throughout the innings, but to make things worse for them, KKR quite easily chased down the target in 13.5 overs. Naturally, the skipper Ajinkya Rahane was left disappointed and accepted that the score was under par, but put the bigger blame on the bowlers.
"I think on this wicket 150-160 would have been good. We had
The KKR bowlers had consistently given over 180 runs in each innings that they bowled, but this time, they managed to tie down the mightiest of stroke makers. While Ben Stokes played 14 balls and failed to score a boundary, Jos Butler played a nearly run-a-ball innings scoring 37 off 34, whereas Ajinkya Rahane and Rahul Tripathi did not stay long enough. On the other hand, Steven Smith held his end and scored 73 off 59 deliveries.
The Royals skipper started his attack with Dhawal Kulkarni and Krishnappa Gowtham, hoping to dismiss the openers cheaply. Things were going smoothly until the second over when Narine hit Gowtham for 22 runs. Rahul Tripathi then missed a sitter to drop Sunil Narine and the bails failed to dislodge in the very next ball, to give a lifeline to Chris Lynn. Luck was not on the side of the inaugural IPL champions, and by the time the duo was dismissed, the damage was done.
The RR skipper was hopeful of improving in the upcoming matches while acknowledging the slow wicket at Sawai Mansingh stadium in Jaipur.
"I think we should focus on playing good cricket and improve in the upcoming games. The wicket was going to be slow and we knew that, so we thought it was the right time to give him (Sudhesan Midhun) a game today,” the 30-year-old said.
The KKR skipper Dinesh Karthik also seconded his counterpart and stressed upon the importance of adapting to slower pitches.
"In India, you get to play on a lot of slow surfaces and you need to adapt to them. We need to improve in a few situations, but that's always the case," Karthik said
West Indian Narine blasted 47 runs off 25 balls but was dismissed in the ninth over by Shreyas Gopal. The wicket, however, did not matter much as KKR had crossed the 90 run mark by then. Lynn was next dismissed at 50 off 32 before Robin Uthappa and Shubman Gill made sure they sail through in the chase. Karthik lauded the players for their clinical performance, which ensured that they sit atop the points table.
"It was a pretty clinical effort, the bowlers bowled well and the batsmen backed it up well too," Karthik remarked.
0
0
0
0
0
0
Comments
Sign up or log in to your account to leave comments and reactions
0 Comments