Rajasthan Royals (RR) skipper Steve Smith was not a happy man after getting thrashed by 57 runs at the hands of Mumbai Indians on Tuesday. Smith blamed it on the team’s inability to get a good start neither with bat nor with the ball after registering their third defeat on the trot.

The result at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi saw the pink team sliding down to the seventh position in the points table. Rajasthan Royals have four points from five matches so far in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

“I think losing wickets early doesn’t help, we haven’t been able to get off to a good start in the last three games,” said Smith after the match. “Outside of Jos (Buttler) and (Jofra) Archer at the end, we have a bit of work to do on our batting.”

The 31-year-old, however, refused to pay heed to current run of form and said there is no reason to panic. “I don’t think we need to panic too much, it is just about implementing our plans and playing some good cricket for longer. We haven’t been able to do that in the last three games and we have to turn it around quickly. Hopefully get a bit of momentum,” he said.

The first-ever IPL champions are awaiting the return of experienced all-rounder Ben Stokes, who is currently undergoing the mandatory quarantine after arriving in the UAE last week.

“He (Stokes) is not out till the 10th I think. He is not too far away, hopefully we can get a few wins before he’s back and then gain momentum,” said Smith.

Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah were the main authors who scripted Mumbai Indians’ fourth win in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The four-time champions stand at the top of the points table with eight points from five matches.

After Rohit Sharma opted to bat first, he gave his team a fiery start with a quickfire opening partnership of 49 runs. However, it was Yadav’s 47-ball knock of 79 runs that anchored Mumbai’s innings to the big total of 193/4.

With a pace attack in red-hot form and led by Bunrah, the defending champions bundled Royals for a total of 136.