Dubai: Rajasthan Royals skipper Steve Smith said that the batters failed to take responsibility while chasing a target of 192 and the side fell short of 60 runs against Kolkata Knight Riders.
Chasing 192, Royals scored 19 runs off the first over, but Robin Uthappa (6) also ended up losing his wicket to Pat Cummins.
In the third over of the innings, Cummins dismissed Ben Stokes (18) owing to a spectacular catch from Dinesh Karthik and five balls later, Steve Smith (4) was sent back, reducing Royals to 32/3.
Sanju Samson (1) was also caught behind off the bowling of Shivam Mavi and Riyan Parag (0) was dismissed by Cummins and as a result, Royals were left staring down the barrel at 37/5.
Rahul Tewatia and Jos Buttler then got together at the crease and the duo put on 43 runs for the sixth wicket, however, the stand was broken in the 11th over by Varun Chakravarthy as he dismissed Buttler (35), reducing Royals to 80/6.
In the end, Royals failed to get any sort of momentum and the side was restricted to 131/9.
For KKR, Pat Cummins bagged four wickets while Shivam Mavi and Varun Chakravarthy clinched two wickets each.
"I thought it was a 180 wicket. There was a bit of dew. Losing four in the Powerplay, it was always going to be tough from there. Cummins bowled nice lengths, made us play some good shots. We got off to a flyer, but then we lost wickets in a clump. Unfortunate way to end. We started off really well, won the last two before this one. In the middle we lost our way," Smith told the host broadcasters after the match.
"Our batters, the top four or five didn't take responsibility perhaps. A couple of real positives. Jofra has been exceptional pretty much every game. Tewatia obviously has pulled a few out of the hat throughout the tournament. He has bowled exceptionally well throughout the tournament. Not enough support for them," he added.
Earlier, Eoin Morgan played an unbeaten knock of 68 runs as KKR posted a total of 191/7 in the allotted twenty overs.
With this win, KKR have moved to the fourth spot in the points table with 14 points from 14 matches. On the other hand, Royals are now out from the playoff contention after losing the match against Kolkata.
