Match# 50: Overseas players worked well together for Rajasthan Royals, with Stokes, Smith and Buttler scoring more than 20 runs in the same game, to go with Archer picking up two wickets to set up a crucial win over Kings XI Punjab.
This article was originally published in FirstPost.com
Rajasthan Royals’ Overseas Quartet
Ben Stokes, Steven Smith, Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer. As far as overseas foursomes go, there are few more loaded combinations in the IPL. And yet, despite having featured together in the majority of Rajasthan Royals’ games since the start of IPL 2019, this was the first time they played together to get this win.
For a side as overly dependent on its overseas contingent, it makes sense that the Royals started the day at joint-bottom of the points table – Archer aside, their quartet had been rather quiet all season.
Stokes, prior to his jaw-dropping match-winning century against Mumbai Indians on Sunday, had returned 110 runs off 103 balls in his first five outings; Smith, after starting the season with back-to-back fifties at Sharjah, had managed all of 157 runs off 159 balls in the last 10 games; Buttler, he with eight 50s in his last 14 innings for the Royals coming into IPL 2020, had crossed 25 only twice in 12 matches. And Archer’s impact, even as he breathed constant fire, was negated by the toothlessness of the rest of the bowling attack.
And here they were, the Royal quartet, in a must-win clash, against the most in-form team of the tournament (five wins in a row), and everyone turned up. Archer and Stokes, together, gave away only 58 runs from eight overs, while picking up all four KXIP wickets to fall; the remaining 12 overs went for 126. With bat in hand, Stokes pummelled a 26-ball 50 in an opening partnership of 60 runs (in 5.3 overs), and Smith and Buttler’s finishing flourish – an unbeaten stand of 41 runs, off just 19 balls – could yet prove to be an NRR-shifter of enormous proportions.
Rajasthan Royals Performance in IPL 2020
Rajasthan’s scores, in the first and last two games of this campaign so far, read thus: 216/7, 226/6 in 19.3 overs, 196/2 in 18.2 overs and 186/3 in 17.3 overs. Four wins in four, with a scoring rate of 10.94 per over and an average of 45.78 runs per wicket. In the nine games sandwiched between these four displays, the Royals scored at 7.60 per over and returned 21.15 runs per wicket – and managed just one victory.
IPL 2020 Points Table (after match 50)
| Team | P | W | L | Pt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
MI  | 12 | 8 | 4 | 16 |
RCB  | 12 | 7 | 5 | 14 |
DC  | 12 | 7 | 5 | 14 |
KXIP  | 13 | 6 | 7 | 12 |
RR  | 13 | 6 | 7 | 12 |
KKR  | 13 | 6 | 7 | 12 |
SRH  | 12 | 5 | 7 | 10 |
CSK  | 13 | 5 | 8 | 10 |
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The Dew Factor
Kings XI Punjab captain KL Rahul on Friday blamed his side’s inability to defend a decent total against Rajasthan Royals in their IPL match to the dew factor, saying it made life miserable for his bowlers, especially the spinners as they struggled to grip the ball.
“It was a horrible toss to lose to be honest. It did get very easy to bat later on. There was a lot of dew in the second half and that made it a bit tough for the bowlers to grip the ball,” Rahul said at the post-match presentation.
“When you’re operating with two leg spinners like we are, it does make things difficult. Don’t think we bowled that badly but need to operate better with the wet ball. The dew has been unpredictable this season. You can’t prepare for it but need to adapt to it.”
The seven-wicket loss snapped KXIP’s string of five wins, making their final league match a do-or-die affair.