Lack of partnerships did us in: Royals skipper Rahane
BAD LOSS Losing crucial wickets in the middle overs didn’t allow us to get to a strong total, says India batsman HYDERABAD:
If Chennai Super Kings had scripted the perfect comeback to the IPL fold against Mumbai Indians in the seasonopener, Rajasthan Royals on Monday dished out the poorest tale.
A hapless batting display, followed by a lacklustre effort in the field coupled with some erroneous bowling saw them lose by nine wickets to Sunrisers Hyderabad, as they start their campaign this season.
The narrative could have been different though. With 48 runs on the board for the loss of one wicket at the end of the powerplay overs, the ploy should have been to push the throttle. Instead, the brakes were applied and how. Skipper Ajinkya Rahane and Ben Stokes were caught in the space of 14 deliveries and the momentum changed hands in no time.
“I think first of all, we thought on this wicket, 150-160 would’ve been an ideal total because the ball was doing a bit and the medium pacers had good help on this wicket,” Rahane said, at the post-match press conference. “But we didn’t get that one partnership. We lost crucial wickets in between.”
SECOND WICKET STAND
Well, the second wicket did stand for 46 runs, while the fourth stitched 29 off just 13 deliveries. Both the partnerships could have shaped the innings well but failed miserably. “Getting a good start in the first six overs, that was the key, and we got that,” Rahane added.
“Six overs and we were close to 50 with one wicket down. But as I mentioned, we lost crucial wickets in the middle overs. I always believed that it was a wicket where one big partnership or (if) one set batsman can bat through the innings that really would’ve helped.”
With Steve Smith ruled out of the ongoing edition of the IPL, the Royals went in with D’Arcy Short, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Ben Laughlin in the starting XI. Unfortunately, none of them fired. While the batting trio put
I think first of all, we thought on this wicket, 150160 would’ve been an ideal total because the ball was doing a bit Six overs and we were close to 50 with one wicket down. But as I mentioned, we lost crucial wickets in the middle overs
up a combined 15, Laughlin went for 20 in his two overs without any success.
However, Rahane backed the overseas players to find a rhythm as the tournament progressed. “D’Arcy Short did really well in the Big Bash, even for Australia recently, Jos Butler and Stokes we all know how dangerous they are, Ben Laughlin is an experienced bowler in T20 cricket and did well in the Big Bash in Australia,” he said. “Klaasen is also there... He didn’t get a game but he did well against us in South Africa in T20 cricket. Definitely Steve Smith is a quality player, but we are not thinking about him right now.”