IPL 2018: How Rajasthan Royals crumbled against Kings XI Punjab, explains coach

Rajasthan Royals (RR) bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule blamed lack of partnerships for his side’s six-wicket loss to Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in the Indian Premier League (IPL 2018) match at the Holkar Stadium in Indore on Sunday. (KXIP vs RR highlights)

Apart from Jos Buttler (51), all other batsmen failed to click as Royals could only manage 152/9. In reply, KXIP finished on 155/4 with eight balls remaining. (KXIP vs RR scorecard)

“Our batting wasn’t up to the mark. We didn’t have a partnership going. In between the 10th and 16th over, we lost five wickets. I would say we were 20 runs short,” said Bahutule at the post-match conference. (IPL points table)

After D’Arcy Short (2) and Ajinkya Rahane (5), Buttler stitched a 49-run stand with Sanju Samson (28) before the Kerala batsman fell to Andrew Tye in the 11th over. Things got worse as the visitors then lost four wickets in no time.

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Ben Stokes’ poor run with RR continued as he was dismissed for 12 while Jofra Archer couldn’t even open his account. Towards the end, Shreyas Gopal played a 16-ball 24-run cameo but it was not enough to take RR to a good total.

In reply, KL Rahul anchored KXIP’s chase with a calculative unbeaten 84 off 54 balls to help the hosts register their sixth win in the tournament.

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“(KL) Rahul paced his innings really well. He took it deep and hit some really good shots in the 17th and 18th overs. Thirty-one runs in those two overs and that just took the game away from us,” Bahutule added.

Asked about Stokes and Jaydev Unadkat, both of whom have failed to live up to their reputation this season, he said: “To be honest, they (Stokes and Unadkat) are really working hard. Their work ethic is brilliant. Unfortunately, they haven’t got going. But I expect them to do well in the upcoming games.”