Rajasthan Royals’ IPL 2020 campaign ended after a loss to Kolkata Knight Riders

For Steve Smith-led Rajasthan Royals, things did not go as desired. Their IPL 2020 campaign came to an end after they lost to Kolkata Knight Riders by 60 runs in Dubai. The KKR team led by Eoin Morgan posted 191 runs. Even though, there was plenty of dew around in the venue, KKR’s bowling attack proved too much for the RR. Steve Smith lamented that there was a lack of assistance from other teammates for Jofra Archer.

In the first place, the toss did go the Royals way. Jofra Archer got his side the massive breakthrough by picking the wicket of Nitish Rana. KKR batsmen like Shubman Gill and Rahul Tripathi fought back; however, the Royals picked up four quick wickets. Eoin Morgan and Andre Russell smashed runs with their bat in the next three overs. They lifted the scoreboard of the Kolkata Knight Riders to 191.

The bowlers of Knight Riders didn't start well; in any case, Pat Cummins and Shivam Mavi struck regularly and left the Royals reeling at 32-4 at one phase of the game. Jos Buttler and Rahul Tewatia started reconstructing; nonetheless, the job was a lot for the duo. The two-time champions continued picking wickets as well as restricting the flow of the runs by RR. In the long run, the Royals surrendered to a 60-run defeat and ended their promising IPL campaign.

Steve Smith said Jofra has been excellent in almost every game

Steve Smith, who couldn't have any kind of effect against Knight Riders, pointed out that losing four wickets in the powerplay didn't help them. The 31-year old further criticized the batsmen of his side, who couldn't undertake sufficient responsibility. He felt sad about their dreadful end to the competition after a few consecutive triumphs. On the bright side, Smith acknowledged that Rahul Tewatia and Jofra Archer have been remarkable for the team; nonetheless, they lacked support from the teammates.

“I thought it was around a 180 wicket. There was a bit of dew. Losing four in the Powerplay, it was always going to be tough from there. Cummins bowled nice lengths, made us play some good shots. We got off to a flier, but then we lost wickets in a clump. Unfortunate way to end. We started off really well, won the last two before this one. In the middle we lost our way. Our batters, the top four or five didn’t take responsibility perhaps. Couple of real positives. Jofra has been exceptional pretty much every game. Tewatia obviously has pulled a few out of the hat throughout the tournament. He has bowled exceptionally well throughout the tournament. Not enough support for them,” Steve Smith told in the post-match presentation.

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