Guwahati (Assam) [India], May 16 : Rajasthan Royals bowling coach Shane Bond said he was 'disappointed' with the franchise's recent winless streak but was adamant that they are "hard to beat" following their fourth consecutive defeat in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season.
After enjoying a near-flawless opening half of the season, the Royals fell to their fourth straight defeat, losing to the Punjab Kings by 5 wickets.
The Sanju Samson-led side are just one defeat away from equalling their record for most consecutive losses in a single season. In 2009-10, the Rajasthan-based franchise suffered five defeats on the trot which is their worst till now.
Despite their recent failings, the Royals have already booked their place for the playoffs largely on account of their previous winning run. They currently sit in the second spot with 16 points and their position in the knockouts would be decided on the outcome of their net game against guaranteed table-toppers Kolkata Knight Riders.
"We are pretty good. Obviously, we are disappointed. It is never a great feeling when you are losing games in a row. Then your mind plays back to what if. What if we won against Sunriesrs? But you have to get some perspective too. When you look at the points table we are second. Even with the four losses in a row, we are second we have qualified. It just takes one better game from us to turn things around and I think we are the capable ones. If we play our best cricket, we are hard to beat. We are always hard to beat," Bond said at the post-match press conference on Wednesday.
After the coin landed in favour of the Royals at the toss, skipper Sanju Samson opted to bat. The Punjab franchise would have made the same choice had they won the toss, pacer Nathan Ellis said later.
The decision, however, backfired on the Royals as they fell like lambs to the slaughter in the face of Punjab's bowlers. They failed to push the scoreboard along as the Punjab bowlers operated on tight lines and lengths. Apart from Riyan Parag's 48 and Ravichandran Ashwin's cameo of 28, the rest of the batters tottered as Rajasthan managed to crawl to 144/9.
In reply, Sam Curran (63*) and Jitesh Sharma's (22) 63-run stand took the game away from the Royals and sealed a five-wicket win for the Kings. Bond felt that Rajasthan fell 20 to 30 runs short in the first innings, a tally that could have led to a different result.
"Every time you win the toss and make a decision you think it is the right decision, I suppose in hindsight you question what is. In the end, we didn't get enough runs in the first innings. If we put a score on the board around 170 or 180 I think it could have been a different result. At the end of the day, we didn't get enough runs on the board to take the game to the point where we won it," Bond added.
Rajasthan still have the opportunity to finish the group stage in the second spot if they win their final game. They also need Sunrisers Hyderabad to lose one of their remaining two games.
If Hyderabad win both matches then the Royals need them to win by a margin which keeps their net run rate lower.
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