Rajasthan Royals director of cricket Kumar Sangakkara rued the fact that there was no one in the side to build a partnership with skipper Sanju Samson, which would have helped the side beat Delhi Capitals in a low-scoring match here on Saturday.
Superb bowling on a slow pitch where batting was difficult helped Delhi Capitals outplay Rajasthan Royals by 33 runs and move to the top of the points table in IPL 2021 at the Shaikh Zayed Cricket Stadium.
Rajasthan skipper Samson (70 not out, 53 balls) waged a lone battle, keeping the scoreboard moving with singles and twos through small nudges and touches interspersed with trick shots, reverse sweeps, and scoops, hitting boundaries here and there. But in the end that proved too little and too late as Rajasthan fell well short of the target.
“Well, it was a tough one for the skipper (Samson), he was batting so well. All we needed was someone to stay with him and unfortunately losing wickets so regularly, didn’t allow Sanju to cut free early on,” said Sangakkara.
“154 was a great total to limit Delhi Capitals to, [what] we needed to do was not be careless in the first 10 overs. Unfortunately, Delhi came hard at us, they bowled smartly and we weren’t up to it,” the Sri Lankan said.
While the batting didn’t click, Sanga believes it’s not something he is worried about given the quality of the batting line-up. He has backed the players to do well as the tournament goes forward.
“I wouldn’t worry too much about the lower middle-order, they got us out of a lot of trouble in the first half of the IPL this season, and I am sure they will come good, as we go along,” he added.
