The ever-consistent Steve Smith continued his rich vein of form, scoring an unbeaten 79 in Rajasthan Royals' easy seven-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians, in the IPL match in Ahmedabad on Tuesday night, and immediately declared he “never gets tired of batting”.
In the process, Smith also grabbed the Orange Cap for being the highest run-getter so far with 122 runs in three matches.
Chasing a challenging 165 to win, Rajasthan romped home in 19.1 overs, with Smith scoring an unbeaten 79 from 53 balls.
He was well-supported by Ajinkya Rahane (46) as they raised a 64-run stand for the second wicket.
Talking about his style of batting, Smith, who was also named Man of the Match, said, "I am doing it consistently now, moving across my stumps, it is working, no need to change it."
The young Australian said, his team "tried to keep it around ten an over or under that" while chasing Mumbai's healthy total, built around a fiery 104-run stand between Kieron Pollard (70) and Corey Anderson (50).
Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma, who has now lost all the three matches the team has played so far, blamed batting for the defeat.
"We did not start well with the bat, poor performance with the bat, thanks to Corey (Anderson) and Polly (Kieron Pollard) for bringing us back in the game.
“I think it was a decent score, not a great one but something to bowl at. Royals batted well. We have some work to do," he said.
"We have to take responsibility with bat and be a little disciplined with ball."
Talking about Aaron Finch, who suffered a hamstring injury today, Rohit said," Finch does not look good right now. He will take a scan tomorrow."
© 2024 Rediff.com -