{ "id": "9105", "author": "13", "cnmid": "0", "title": "Hope Rajasthan Royals retain this form: Skipper Smith", "lang": "en", "series": "8", "cup_year": "2015", "article_type": "General", "excerpt": "Helping his side register their third straight win of the Indian Premier League-8 (IPL-8) 2015", "subtype": "", "editor1": "

Ahmedabad, April 15 (IANS) Helping his side register their third straight win of the Indian Premier League-8 (IPL-8) 2015, Rajasthan Royals skipper Steve Smith hoped his team would continue this form throughout the event.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

Man-of-the-Match Smith played an unbeaten 53-ball 79-run knock, as the Royals hunted down Mumbai Indians' total of 164 for five, posting 165 for three in 19.1 overs.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

"I hope it continues and Royals have won three now and hopefully, we can continue with this form throughout the tournament," Smith said at the post-match presentation ceremony on Tuesday.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

The half-century Smith scored was his first in IPL history. When asked whether he knew about it, he said: "I didn't know about that, it's nice."<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

Speaking about his match-winning innings, he said, "I never get tired. It's my job to score runs and it was nice to contribute to the win tonight. I guess I am doing it pretty consistently (on shuffling across the crease)."<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

"I have done it for a little while now and it's been successful. So, there's no need to change. It's nice to be in good form and score some runs," the RR skipper said.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

Asked how is the team handling pressure while chasing big scores, the 25-year-old said: "We were just trying to keep the asking rate around 10 or under 10 an over. We have got plenty of power-hitters in the end, so we knew that we could chase it."<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

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