Rajasthan Royals captain Ajinkya Rahane was critical of his team's batting performance in the lost IPl Eliminator against Kolkata Knight Riders, saying the line-up could not handle the pressure.
Chasing 170, Rajasthan Royals looked good when Sanju Samson (50) and Rahane (46) were in the middle for a fifty-plus partnership.
They needed 61 runs from six overs with nine wickets in hand but eventually fell short by 25 runs after the duo's dismissal. The team seemed to have sorely missed the star English duo of Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes who were away on national duty.
But Rahane disagreed.
"We can't give any excuses. They are important and experienced players but we did well (without them) to beat Royal Challengers Bangalore in our last match," Rahane explained.
"We backed our batting unit to get the total. We did not get big sixes in the last few overs. Credit goes to KKR bowlers. We need to learn for next season. We batted well in patches and were not that good enough throughout the season," a dejected Rahane said.