IPL 2020: RR captain Steve Smith distraught after heavy defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad

After a 8-wicket drubbing at the hands of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Rajasthan Royals (RR) captain Steve Smith has said that winning upcoming matches was the key for his team to reach the play-offs stage and that he was not aware of the other mathematical combinations which can help his team in the cause.

"We just need to keep winning and don't know how things will work for us mathematically, we have to keep winning, that's our job now," Steve Smith said while reflecting on the team's humiliating defeat.

After Jofra Archer dismissed SRH openers David Warner and Jonny Bairstow, RR had a good chance of clawing on to the match but the batting brilliance of Manish Pandey and Vijay Shankar, who partnered for an unbeaten 140 runs for the third wicket, took the match completely away from the 2008 champions. The duo was in such good touch that the 155-run target was chased with 11 balls remaining.

The Australian stalwart also pulled back Archer from the attack after the completion of his first two overs. The pacer was bowling fiercely then and clicking 150 kmph mark frequently. Pandey and Shankar were new to the crease then and another over from Archer might have fetched RR the third vital wicket. Steve Smith revealed that he pondered on the thought during the match but decided against it after consulation with few other teammates.

Steve Smith praised Hyderabad all-rounder for his "smart" innings and added that Manish Pandey took the game away from his team, which is at the 7th spot on points table now. Shankar started off slow and dealed in singles to give Manish Pandey most of the strikes. He then started hitting the ball cleanly towards the end of the run-chase.

"We started well. Jofra taking two big wickets early but we couldn't keep the foot on the pedal. Vijay played smart innings and Manish took the game on and played really nicely. I consulted a few other boys, it was talked about (giving Jofra another over up front) but opted against it and in hindsight, after what happened, probably would've given him one more over," Smith said.

Furher, Steve Smith asserted that his team should have added few more runs to the board, also highlighting that Rajasthan have failed to register back-to-back wins in the IPL 2020.

"It (the wicket) got better as the game went on. It was slow and stopping in the first innings, it was one of those wickets which was quite hard to start on. We needed some more runs in the first innings. I can't put my finger on anything, there are plenty of good players and good teams. We haven't been able to pull back to back wins," Steve Smith said.