Sanju Samson, captain of the Rajasthan Royals (RR), attributed the team’s 58-run loss against the Gujarat Titans (GT) at Ahmedabad on April 9 primarily to their death-bowling performance. RR got off to a great start after winning the toss and bowling first, removing the highly effective Shubman Gill for just two in the third over.
But fellow opener Sai Sudharsan’s outstanding 53-ball 82 helped GT rally to 94/2 after 10 overs. They scored an incredible 123 in the last 10 overs, which included 54 in the last four overs.
GT finished on 217/6 as a result, giving RR a difficult objective that they were unable to meet. RR lost by 58 runs after being bowled out for just 159 in 19.2 overs.
At the post-match presentation, Samson offered the following reflection on the defeat (via ESPN Cricinfo):
“There was definitely some purchase in the wicket. Having someone like a Jofra to bowl first, the way he started taking Shubman Gill’s wicket and the way we started in the powerplay, that’s what we planned. We just went off the plan in the death overs. I think, a few plans, we prepared something else, the bowlers executed something else.”
Sanju Samson
He continued:
“So, we need to look back maybe tomorrow or day after in the meeting and we’ll come back and try to execute the same. They also batted really well but I think a couple of sixes or 15 to 20 runs, we gave away in the bowling.”
Sanju Samson
With just two victories in five games, the defeat put RR in seventh place on the points table and terminated their two-match winning streak.
“Want to win games while chasing, not just while batting first” – Sanju Samson
As per Samson the Rajasthan Royals want to get better at chasing targets rather than winning by setting massive scores. The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) matched have been victories for RR as the team chose to bat first in their IPL games this season.
During the 13th over Samson faced 28 balls and scored 41 runs as the sole batter to represent RR in the top-order until his dismissal.
“We’d like to stick in and respect the conditions and do what the condition requires. We don’t want to end up being a team that’s only good at defending totals. We also want to win games while chasing, not just while batting first.”
Sanju Samson
He added:
“When you lose games, we also feel that ‘should we have chased first’ or ‘should we have done something else?’ But I think the conditions, we were expecting this and this was a really good wicket to chase on.”
Sanju Samson
On Sunday, April 13, RR will play the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Jaipur in an attempt to resume their winning ways.
