'We are going through failures': Sanju Samson

NEW DELHI: Rajasthan Royals suffered their fourth consecutive defeat in the IPL as Punjab Kings secured a five-wicket win in their

IPL 2024

match on Wednesday.
Despite the loss, Rajasthan Royals, with 16 points, remain secure in terms of qualifying for the playoffs.
However, with just one match remaining, Rajasthan Royals might not finish in the top two due to an inferior net run-rate, especially considering that Sunrisers Hyderabad can reach up to 18 points.

After the match, Rajasthan Royals skipper

Sanju Samson

said the team needs to introspect what's going wrong for them in the tournament.

"We have to sit back and accept that we are going through failures, have lost four games on the trot. Got to find out what's not working out for us as a team. Somebody needs to step up, we have so many match-winners in the team. This is the time we need to show character. We need to score more runs. We thought 160-170 would have been a good score. We are not used to playing on such wickets this season where 200-plus totals are getting scored easily. We had to play smart cricket and build those partnerships today. Hopefully the result goes in our way (in the upcoming games)," Samson said in the post match presentation.

In the match, Punjab Kings effectively restricted Rajasthan Royals to a mere 144 for nine.
Despite a challenging pitch, local hero

Riyan Parag

managed to score 48 off 34 balls for the Royals. Punjab's skipper,

Sam Curran

(2/24 in 3 overs), Harshal Patel (2/28 in 4 overs), Nathan Ellis (1/24 in 4 overs), and

Rahul Chahar

(2/26 in 4 overs) all delivered impactful performances.
In response, skipper Curran led from the front with an unbeaten 63 off 41 balls, ensuring Punjab's victory with seven balls to spare.
"We needed a few more runs. I think we were 10-15 runs short. It was a 160 kind of a wicket. We would have easily got more than 160 (had we played better), that's where we lost the game. Would have been nice to have one more bowling option. I am getting used to five quality bowlers," a disappointed Samson said.