Skipper Samson bemoans Royals' inefficiency in preventing boundaries against Delhi

Rajasthan Royals batter Sanju Samson walks off the field after his dismissal during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 cricket match between Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals, at Arun Jaitley Stadium, in New Delhi. Pic/PTI

Following his side's 20-run loss to Delhi Capitals (DC) in IPL 2024, Rajasthan Royals (RR) skipper Sanju Samson said that the target was like 10 runs extra and his team could have conceded less boundaries.

A Sanju Samson masterclass almost won it for RR but DC bowlers held their nerves at death to get their sixth win of the season at home to keep their playoffs hopes alive.

Sanju said following the game, "I think we had it in our hands, it was like 11-12 runs per over, it was achievable, but these things happen in IPL. Yes, we are doing both things fine, we would like to stick to what the conditions demand, 220 was 10 runs extra to chase, if we had conceded a couple of less boundaries, we would have made it through."

"The DC opener (Fraser McGurk) came out and did what he has done through the tournament, we still came back well. We have lost three games but all those games have been really tight, we have been playing remarkably well, we have to do some fine-tuning and make a comeback, we need to keep the momentum going. You have to give credit to someone like (Tristan Stubbs) Stubbs who batted well against Sandeep, who has been bowling very well in the last 10-11 games, he scored 2-3 sixes extra against my best bowlers who are Yuzi Chahal and Sandeep Sharma. We have lost the game, we have to find out where we lost the game and we need to keep moving," he added.

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Coming to the game, RR won the toss and opted to bowl first. Fine half-centuries from youngsters Jake Fraser McGurk (50 in 20 balls, with seven fours and three sixes) and Abhishek Porel (63 in 36 balls, with seven fours and three sixes) and an entertaining cameo by Tristan Stubbs (41 in 20 balls, with three fours and three sixes) took DC to 221/8 in their 20 overs.

Ravichandran Ashwin (3/24) was the top bowler for RR.

In the run chase, though RR lost their openers early, skipper Sanju Samson (86' in 46 balls, with eight fours and six sixes), Riyan Parag (27 in 22 balls, with a four and three sixes) and Shubham Dubey (25 in 12 balls with two fours and two sixes) kept RR in hunt but the dismissal of Sanju turned out to be a gamechanger that left RR short of a win.

Kuldeep, Mukesh Kumar and Khaleel Ahmed took two wickets while Axar Patel and Rashikh Dar Salam got one each.

Kuldeep won the Player of the Match for his spell of 2/25.

DC has climbed to fifth in the IPL 2024 table with six wins, six losses and 12 points. RR stays second with eight wins, three losses and 16 points.

(With agency inputs)