Smith back at throne

Mumbai, April 20

Former Australia batsman Steve Smith returned as the captain of Rajasthan Royals on Saturday and will replace Ajinkya Rahane at the helm for the remainder of the 2019 edition of the IPL.

RR, the inaugural IPL champions in 2008, have logged just two wins from eight games this year and are second-to-last on the table, only above Royal Challengers Bangalore in the eight-team league on a better net run-rate.

“Rajasthan Royals will be led by the Australian batsman Steven Smith for the upcoming matches of the IPL,” the team said in a statement. “Ajinkya Rahane did a fantastic job in leading the team to the playoffs last year, however, the franchisee now thinks a fresh approach is needed to bring their 2019 campaign back on track. Steve has always been part of the leadership team within RR and Rahane will continue to be a key voice in the side, therefore the Royals see this as a small restructuring process to secure the results required to move up the table.”

Smith stepped down as captain of the IPL side last year and was later stood down for the entire 2018 tournament following the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa, in which both he and his Australia vice-captain David Warner received 12 month bans that expired last month. The two have been included in Australia’s 15-man squad for the World Cup. — Reuters

Russell UNHAPPY WITH BATTING POSITION

KOLKATA: Describing their narrow loss to RCB as a sweet and sour feeling, KKR impact player Andre Russell has questioned his team’s decision to send him lower down the order. Chasing 214, Russell came to bat when 135 were needed off 49 balls but the West Indian kept them in the hunt right till the last over, smashing nine sixes and two fours in a 25-ball 65. Asked whether he should have batted at No 4, Russell made a ‘no-comment’ gesture putting his finger on the lips but went on to explain that the team should have been “more flexible”. “I believe that I should have batted at No 4... Honestly, I think sometimes you have to be flexible as a team,” he said. — PTI

Scoreboard

Mumbai Indians

Runs Balls 4 6

Q de Kock c Stokes b Gopal 65 47 6 2
R Sharma c&b Gopal 5 7 1 0
S Yadav c Kulkarni b Binny 34 33 1 1
H Pandya lbw b Archer 23 15 2 1
K Pollard b Unadkat 10 7 0 1
B Cutting not out 13 9 1 1
K Pandya not out 2 2 0 0
Extras: (lb-5, w-4) 9
Total: (5 wickets; 20 overs) 161
FOW: 1-11, 2-108, 3-111, 4-124, 5-152  

Bowling O M R W

Stuart Binny 3 0 19 1
Dhawal Kulkarni 3 0 31 0
Satish Gopal 4 0 21 2
Jofra Archer 4 0 22 1
Jaydev Unadkat 4 0 46 1
Riyan Parag 2 0 17 0

RAJASTHAN ROYALS

Runs Balls 4 6

A Rahane c Yadav b Chahar 12 12 2 0
S Samson c Pollard b Chahar 35 19 6 1
S Smith not out 59 48 5 1
B Stokes b Chahar 0 2 0 0
R Parag run out 43 29 5 1
A Turner lbw b Bumrah 0 1 0 0
S Binny not out 7 4 1 0
Extras: (b-4, lb-2) 6
Total: (5 wickets; 19.1 overs) 162
FOW: 1-39, 2-76, 3-77, 4-147, 5-153

Bowling O M R W

Hardik Pandya 4 0 31 0
Krunal Pandya 2 0 24 0
Lasith Malinga 3.1 0 27 0
Rahul Chahar 4 0 29 3
Jasprit Bumrah 4 0 21 1
Mayank Markande 2 0 24 0

Player of the Match: Steve Smith