GT’s poor reaction to the opening RR assault cost the game, says opener and Orange Cap holder Sai Sudharsan.
Gt’s poor reaction to the brutal opening stand by the Royals’ openers was critical in their loss, says opener Sai Sudharsan.
In the Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) chase against Gujarat Titans (GT), it was the opening ball of the second over. In an attempt to drag Ishant Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal top-edged it, sending it whirling in the direction of the point. Jos Buttler yelled for the ball, sprinted after it, and spilt it, even though there was a fielder closer.
In the end, Jaiswal made 31 in 16 balls during the powerplay, while Vaibhav Suryavanshi, his 14-year-old opening partner, made 52 in 20. It took RR six overs to reach 87. With Jaiswal, who was essentially the support act, going undefeated at 70 from 40 balls and Suryavanshi smashing records on his way to a 38-ball 101, the two ended up adding 166 in 11.5 overs. Despite the aim being 210, the victory was achieved with 25 balls remaining.
“We could have and we should have taken that catch, that would have made a big difference,” B Sai Sudharsan said after the game, while adding that it was early on in the game, and “we can’t be so harsh”.
“When we finished [batting], we felt it was par or ten runs over par, is what our feeling was. But the way they started and batted showed us that we were wrong,” Sai Sudharsan, who scored 39 in 30 balls to take the Orange Cap back from Virat Kohli, said.
“No credit taken [away] from Vaibhav, the way he batted was tremendous and fantastic to watch, [even though we were] fielding,” he said. “But at the same time, we could have reacted well. The way they started the powerplay was brilliant, but we could have reacted well and had better plans.
“Maybe the lengths, and we could have been aware of the wicket, how it reacted to the ball, which they bowled in the first innings. Maybe we could have taken cues from that and executed that. Maybe we could have gone wider, we could have not bowled into his arc, maybe we could have done that and things would have been different.”