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Rajasthan Royals (RR) were on song for a better part of the league stage but they have faced a slump of late. In Jos Buttler’s absence, Sanju Samson-led RR failed to put a fighting total on the board and lost to Punjab Kings (PBKS) by five wickets at Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Bengaluru. After Royals’ fourth defeat in a row, Samson urged his match-winners to step up and show character. He felt that the score of 144/9 was way below par.
“We have to sit back and accept that we are going through failures, have lost four games on the trot. Got to find out what's not working out for us as a team. Somebody needs to step up, we have so many match-winners in the team. This is the time we need to show character. We need to score more runs. We thought 160-170 would have been a good score. We are not used to playing on such wickets this season where 200-plus totals are getting scored easily. We had to play smart cricket and build those partnerships today. Hopefully the result goes in our way,” Samson told the broadcasters after the loss.
Tom Kohler-Cadmore made his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut in the absence of Buttler but failed to justify it. He played a slow knock of 23-ball 18. As Royals suffered a collapse, impact player Donovan Ferreira had to be sent in. He failed to contribute with a cameo and RR found themselves one bowler short.
“We needed a few more runs. I think we were 10-15 runs short. It was a 160 kind of a wicket. We would have easily got more than 160 (had we played better), that's where we lost the game. Would have been nice to have one more bowling option. I am getting used to five quality bowlers,” he said.
RR’s top two spot not confirmed
Despite the loss, RR are placed second on the points table. Even if they win their next match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), they won't be guaranteed a sport in the Qualifier 1 as Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have two games left.
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