Rajasthan Royals (RR) succumbed to a crushing 112-run defeat at the hands of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Match 60 of IPL 2023 at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur on Sunday (May 14).
Opting to bat first, RCB posted 171/5 in their allotted 20 overs on the back of half-centuries from Glenn Maxwell (54 off 33) and Faf du Plessis (55 off 44).
In reply, RR’s innings folded for a paltry 59 in just 10.3 overs. It was a listless batting display as only two batters managed to touch the cross the double-digit mark. Shimron Hetmyer top scored with 19-ball 35.
It was a humiliating loss and RR skipper Sanju Samson was also left stunned by his side's batting collapse.
“I think our top three were scoring a lot of runs, we go hard in the powerplay but it didn’t come out today. It's too soon to analyze or dissect the game. You need to go hard in the powerplay knowing the ball was getting slower and older, that’s the way me, (Yashasvi) Jaiswal and Jos (Buttler) have played throughout,” Samson said in the post-match interview.
“Credit to the RCB bowlers for their energy and intensity. I think this was a target that could have gone to the wire, I expected a tight match if we had a decent powerplay,” he added.
The Royals started the season with four wins in five games. However, they lost of their next eight matches.
When Samson was asked to pin-point the reason behind such an abysmal downfall, he bluntly replied: “That's a great question. I was just thinking seeing the batting collapse where we went wrong? I don't think I have an answer to that yet.”
For his bizarre answer, Sanju Samson faced flak from the fans on social media:
The playoff qualification scenario has now become tricky for the Rajasthan Royals. They need to win their last league match and also depend on favourable results in other games.
“We all know the nature of the IPL, we’ve seen some funny things happen in the league stage. We have to keep strong, take a day off and think about the game in Dharamshala. I think we need to end on a strong note. We have to take responsibility on the whole as a team for this performance,” Samson concluded.
