Steve Smith led his team Rajasthan Royals (RR) to a three-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Eden Gardens on Thursday. RR bounced back to winning ways after a 6-wicket defeat against Delhi Capitals in their previous game as they moved to the seventh spot on the table with 8 points from 11 games keeping their playoffs off alive.
During the match, Smith also achieved a personal milestone in the game as he completed 2000 runs in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Smith was two runs away from achieving the feat and the Rajasthan Royals captain scored just 2 runs before being sent back by Sunil Narine. After struggling at the start of the season, Smith roared back to form with two back to back half-centuries against Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals but couldn’t replicate his heroics against KKR as his threat was nullified by Narine.
He has been impressive for RR so far this season with 297 runs from 10 matches at an average of 42.42 and a strike rate of 114.67. He was appointed the skipper of the side midway through the season after the team’s poor run under Ajinkya Rahane. Smith has had a fine start as skipper winning two of his first three games in charge.
On Thursday, despite Smith’s failure, Rajasthan cruised past KKR thanks to two crucial knocks from Riyan Parag (47 off 31) and Jofra Archer (27 off 12). The visitors chased down the target of 176 runs with four balls to spare despite losing after brilliant efforts from Parag and Archer, who held their nerves in a pressure situation.
