IPL 2020: Steve Smith on what went wrong after Kolkata snaps Rajasthan's winning streak

Rajasthan skipper Steve Smith said that things did not go according to the plan after their defeat at the hands of Kolkata at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday. The two-time winners beat the 2008 champions by 37 runs to snap their unbeaten streak in the Dream11 IPL 2020. Smith won the toss and asked Kolkata to make the first use of the pitch as they ended up scoring 174/6 from their 20 overs. Rajasthan in reply were restricted to 137/9. 

No team has managed to win batting second in Dubai so far in this edition of the marquee tournament.

'Didn't quite go to plan': Steve Smith

"Didn't quite go to plan. That happens in T20 cricket sometimes, we have a few areas to improve on and keep moving forward. You could go one way or another.... (Kolkata) like to chase, so we planned to put their death bowling under pressure but obviously couldn't do that as we lost too many wickets upfront. Few of us still thought we were playing in Sharjah. It did (feel a lot different), the far side is a very big side and we didn't see too many balls going there and the other side is slightly shorter. We probably didn't adapt to the dimensions and the wicket also dropped a few catches which cost us. It is about forming whatever XI is best for the conditions we are facing, we will wait and see. Disappointing tonight but we need to keep moving forward. It wasn't a great battle (against his countryman Pat Cummins), he won easily and spoke to him now and he said you smack those in the nets, sometimes you just get a good one", said Smith during the post-match interview.

His opposite number Dinesh Karthik said that there are a lot of areas where Kolkata need to improve.

"Wouldn't call it a perfect game. Lot of areas we need to improve. The way Gill batted, Mavi bowled, Russell batted. Also, the youngsters going after the high catches. Archer bowled really well. Wasn't that easy a wicket to bat on. Couple of guys made it look better than it was. These boys, the journey they've been through when they're not playing, is a hard one. Putting runs on the board is what we thought was the best way to go forward on this ground", he said.

Youngster Shivam Mavi who was adjudged the Man of the Match for his outstanding figures of 2/20 from his 4 overs said that there was a lot of seam on offer when he started bowling.

"When I started bowling, it was seaming. So I thought I'll stick to normal lines and lengths. Before the game, we thought it would be flatter. So I just stuck to a length. Have played against these big stars before, but I knew it wasn't coming onto the bat", said Mavi.

(Image Courtesy: @rajasthanroyals)

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