Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], May 12 (ANI): Following his side's loss to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match, Rajasthan Royals (RR) skipper Sanju Samson said that the side thought that 170 would be a great score batting first and also the surface was expected to slow down in the second innings.
Fighting knock from skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad and a three-wicket haul by Simarjeet Singh helped Chennai Super Kings (CSK) secure a five-wicket win against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at Chennai on Sunday.
Speaking after the game in a post-match presentation, Samson said, "I think after the powerplay, the message was the wicket was slow and two-paced. The bounce was also not as much as we expected. When I was batting in the middle, the score I was expecting was around 170. We were 20-25 runs short. We tried our best, they knew the conditions and they bowled smartly. Simarjeet bowled well today. We are not very sure what to expect in away games. Looking at the venue, we thought batting first might be better. I think when you have a score to chase, on these wickets, they had a better idea and a better hand in this."
"We expected it to be slower in the second innings but it was a touch better. When you play here in night games, it is a no-brainer (to chase) with all the dew coming in. The summer is getting hotter in India and as the wicket heats up, I was expecting it to slow down. They also batted well. The way the game went to the 18th over, the wicket was tough to bat on. It is very normal to keep thinking about the qualification at this stage. The conversations we are having are to control what we can do. At the team brief, I will probably ask them to continue the process and hope to get on the better side next game," he added.
Coming to the match, Rajasthan Royals won the toss and opted to bat first. On a tough surface, RR could not do much with the bat. After a 43-run partnership between Yashasvi Jaiswal (24 in 21 balls, with three fours and a six) and Jos Buttler (21 in 25 balls, with two fours), it was knocked from Riyan Parag (47* in 35 balls, with a four and three sixes) and Dhruv Jurel (28 in 18 balls, with four and two sixes) who took RR to a respectable total of 141/5 in their 20 overs.
Simarjeet Singh (3/26) and Tushar Deshpande (2/30) were among the wickets for CSK.
In the run-chase of 142 runs, CSK did lose wickets at regular intervals. However, knocks from skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad (42* in 41 balls, with four and two sixes), Rachin Ravindra (27 in 18 balls, with four and two sixes) and Daryl Mitchell (22 in 13 balls, with four boundaries) were more than enough to take CSK to a five-wicket win with 10 balls left.
Ravichandran Ashwin was the pick of the bowlers for RR.
For his fantastic spell, Simarjeet took home the 'Player of the Match' award.
With this win, CSK is in the third spot with seven wins and six losses, giving them 14 points. RR is at second spot, with eight wins and four losses, giving them 18 points. (ANI)
