IPL 2018 Rajasthan Royals now have the momentum and belief, says Dhawal Kulkarni

Rajasthan Royals have now won their last games to stay in the playoffs race.

 

pic credit IANS

Dhawal Kulkarni, the Rajasthan Royals fast bowler, has come out and reiterated after his teams' win over the Mumbai Indians that they have the faith and momentum on their side to go all the way and clinch the title. 

Rajasthan kept their hopes alive to try and reach the play-offs hopes by beating the defending champions Mumbai Indians by seven wickets. RR has now won their last three games and has suddenly got a new reign of life for themselves. 

Dhawal Kulkarni was quoted saying about the situation for his team in the ongoing season, where they need to win both their last two games to have a chance of reaching the playoffs, as "All the games are crucial for us. Maybe, in the next game, we've got a good chance to beat Kolkata Knight Riders. With the momentum that we've got, I'm sure we'll be able to do that," 

Dhawal was also asked about Jofra Archer, one of the architects of RR's late resurgence this season. Talking about his teammate, he said, "I feel a bowler who's bowling at 145 (kmph), it's very difficult for a batsman to face that - especially with the way he bowls, the high arm action that he's got. Wankhede's wicket has got good bounce and good carry. He's been bowling consistently well. But today it was special,"

Ben Cutting, the Mumbai Indians all-rounder, was asked whether he feels the dew made the difference in the end for his team against Rajasthan Royals. He said, "To be honest I'm probably the wrong person to ask - I faced four balls and I didn't bowl. From what I saw, it is always a little difficult with a little bit of dew coming in batting second. We were probably 20 runs short with the bat. And that was the difference, " 

"It's tough. I'm not sure. We were pretty close to our plans tonight. Missed a few balls with execution here and there, but that happens in Twenty20 cricket. He's in red-hot form and he's scored, what, 500 runs? His confidence is high and he's striking the ball well. He played very well, " 

Mumbai is now perhaps out of contention to qualify for the playoffs, Cutting rues the number of close games his team lost at the start of the season. He said, "Had we won two of those four games we wouldn't be having the same conversation. We'd be sitting comfortably on 14-16 points,"


 

 
 

By Kashish Chadha - 14 May, 2018

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