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‘I thought we bowled well in the powerplay. The spinners bowled good lengths, with the googlies and leggies, building a lot of pressure’
After registering an emphatic seven-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Rajasthan Royals skipper Steve Smith said that the Abu Dhabi wicket was not the best for batting.
With this win, Steve Smith-led Royals has moved to the fifth position in the Indian Premier League (IPL) points table with 8 points from 10 matches while CSK is now languishing at the bottom with just six points.
Rajasthan Royals chased down 126 with seven wickets in hand and 15 balls to spare. Jos Buttler played a match-winning knock of 70 runs while skipper Steve Smith played an unbeaten inning of 26 runs.
"Sharjah is a little different from here. The wicket was not the best for batting, and good to be on the winning side,” Smith told host broadcaster Star Sports at the post-match presentation.
“I thought we bowled well in the powerplay. The spinners bowled good lengths, with the googlies and leggies, building a lot of pressure. Tewatia and Shreyas have been sensational for us. Buttler took the pressure off me. I just knocked it around, and he just batted the way he usually does. He always maintains a good strike-rate," Smith added.
Rajasthan was 28/3 at one stage but Buttler and Smith put together an unbeaten stand of 98 runs to take their side over the line. Deepak Chahar was the pick of CSK bowlers as he returned with figures of 2-18 in his four overs.
Batting first, CSK posted a total of 125/5 in the allotted 20 overs. Ravindra Jadeja top-scored for the MS Dhoni-led side with an unbeaten knock of 35 runs.
For Rajasthan Royals, Shreyas Gopal returned with the best bowling figures as he finished with figures of 1-14 in his four overs.
Rajasthan Royals will next take on SunRisers Hyderabad on Thursday, October 22 at the Dubai International Stadium.