A bit disappointing the way we bowled: Steve Smith

Steve Smith playing for the Rising Pune Supergiants coasted to a fine ton against the Gujarat Lions. The 26-year old Australian skipper, however, bemoaned the bowling attack of the side after the Lions eventually sealed a closely finished win. Smith, who slammed 101 of just 54 deliveries, stated that he felt that 195 was a pretty good score until the Lions’ batsmen came out to bat. In addition, he became the first non-opener for the team to go past fifty and he eventually registered his maiden Twenty20 hundred.

“I thought 195 was a pretty good score and I think that the first six overs of their batting (made the difference). They came out and played their shots, got off to an absolute flier,” Smith said in a post-match presentation after his side succumbed to its fifth defeat in six games.

The Australian skipper also added that he was disappointed with the way the Supergiants bowled, stating that the imbalance in the side and the continuous reselection of bowlers created the problem.

“I thought we were a bit disappointing with the way we bowled. I think we chopped and changed a little bit too much, rather than being nice and patient, bowling good balls and making them go after the good balls. Any time you do that your chances of taking a wicket (increase) and if you take a wicket up top, when you’re chasing 195, it makes things very difficult,” he added.

When asked about the chances of the Gujarat Lions, Smith said, “In a tournament like this it doesn’t really matter where you play. It’s about going out there on any given day, giving it you’re all. Some days you’re going to lose games of cricket in IPL, that’s part and parcel of it, it’s all obviously about winning more to get yourself into that top four and at the moment we’re not doing that and we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

“It’s obviously a very important one for us to win. We pretty much have to win most of our games from here on in, so hopefully, we can turn the momentum around, get a few wins on the board in a streak and hopefully we’ll go from there.”

What was it that went wrong for the Supergiants? – IPL 9, Match 25: RPS v GL – 5 Talking Points