
07 Apr 2019, 10:07 PM (IST)
07 Apr 2019, 9:49 PM (IST)
Rajasthan post 139/3 in 20 overs against Kolkata.
Smith struck his first half-century of this IPL season as he remained not out on 73 off 59 deliveries after the home side were invited to bat on a tricky track.
The former Australia captain hit seven fours and one six in his unbeaten knock.
He shared 72 runs in 10.4 overs with opener Jos Buttler (37 off 34 balls) for the second wicket after captain Ajinkya Rahane was out cheaply for 5 in the second over.
On a slow track at the Sawai Man Singh stadium, the runs were a premium as the ball did not come on to the bat easily.
The stadium was also engulfed by a sandstorm before the tie but the match started on time.
The home side were 56 for 1 at halfway stage but increased the scoring rate at the back end of the innings to add 83 runs from the next 10 overs with Smith scoring the bulk of the runs.
Scoreboard:
Ajinkya Rahane lbw b Prasidh 5
Jos Buttler c Shubman Gill b H Gurney 37
Steven Smith not out 73
Rahul Tripathi c Chawla b H Gurney 6
Ben Stokes not out 7
Extras: (LB-5, W-4, NB-2) 11
Total: (For 3 wkts, 20 Overs) 139
Fall of Wickets: 5-1, 77-2, 105-3.
Bowler: Piyush Chawla 4-0-19-0, Prasidh Krishna 4-0-35-1, Sunil Narine 4-0-22-0, Kuldeep Yadav 4-0-33-0, Harry Gurney 4-0-25-2.
07 Apr 2019, 9:14 PM (IST)
Rajasthan are 106/3 after 16 overs.
Rahul Tripathi departs after scoring 6 runs off 8 balls.
Harry Gurney to Tripathi, catch out by Piyush Chawla.
Next batsman is Ben Stokes.
Steve Smith is doing his part here and pushing the run rate to post a fighting total but he needs support from the other end.
07 Apr 2019, 7:47 PM (IST)
What the captains are saying:
Ajinkya Rahane: We have played three games in five days, we won against RCB and looking forward to this match. We need to play well against a team like KKR. We have to be aggressive against him (Russell) and bowl good line and lengths.
Dinesh Karthik: We just need to keep the spirits high in the camp, the expectation on the team is always there, a score around 140 should be a par score.