IPL 2020: Teams That Have Nothing To Lose Can Be Quite Dangerous – Andrew McDonald
IPL 2020: Rajasthan Royals, Andrew McDonald believes that his team still has potential to reach the playoffs. He said that his side needs to win all the remaining three matches and maintain a good run-rate in those matches to reach playoffs.
Rajasthan Royals suffered their seventh defeat of the season on Thursday. They lost the match by eight wickets against SunRisers Hyderabad. Following this loss, they have slipped to the seventh spot in the points table with just eight points in eleven matches.
Now, RR’s chances of qualifying the playoffs have become negligible. To qualify the playoff, Rajasthan based franchise not only have to win all their remaining matches but also depend on the result of other games.
However, the head coach of the Rajasthan Royals, Andrew McDonald believes that his team still has potential to reach the playoffs. He said that his side needs to win all the remaining three matches and maintain a good run-rate in those matches to reach playoffs.
“The challenge ahead is pretty clear and that is to win three in a row and see where that net run-rate gets us. I still think that potential seven wins can get you through. For us, it is about continuing to prepare and continuing to believe that we are good enough,” said McDonald in the post match conference.
He further said that his team has the potential to finish in the top four. The Australian also stated that teams with ‘nothing much to lose’ are quite dangerous.
“We have shown throughout the tournament that we can play cricket that can compete with the best and also, win against them. I think teams that have nothing to lose can be quite dangerous at the backend of the tournament. So, we will be looking to be one of those teams,” he added.
Defending a low total of 155 runs, the Royals got a good start as their star bowler Jofra Archer dismissed Hyderabad’s famous duo of David Warner and Jonny Bairstow inside three overs. However, this early blow didn’t affect the Hyderabad side as Manish Pandey and Vijay Shankar played great innings for team and won the match with ease.
Andrew McDonald hailed both the SRH batsman by giving them credit for their victory.
“You have to give credit to the two batters, they played extremely well. I think we had enough pressure on them with those two early wickets. It was an extremely good partnership, so full credit to the two batsmen at the crease.
“If you look at the comparison between the two teams, it is that those two batsmen got fifty, we did not have anyone going past fifty. If you narrow it down to what went wrong in the batting innings, we did not have that solid contribution of a fifty-run score,” the coach said.
Rajasthan Royals will lock horns with the defending champions, Mumbai Indians on Sunday in Abu Dhabi.
