Dew did Royals in, says skipper Samson after losing to Mumbai Indians

The dew came in and it was hard to bowl. It was getting wet.

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Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson blamed the dew factor in the second half of the match for the five-wicket loss to Mumbai Indians, at the D Y Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, on Saturday.

Mumbai Indians, spurred by Suryakumar Yadav's half-century, registered their first victory in this year's IPL and ended an eight-match drought.

Samson, who came to bat at No. 3, scored 16 off 7 balls, including two sixes, but was out playing aggressively. Darryl Mitchell (17) and Jos Buttler (67) then propped innings while Ravichandran Ashwin scored 21 off 9 balls at the end as Rajasthan put up 158 runs.

"I think we could have scored a few more runs. The dew came in and it was hard to bowl. It was getting wet. The ball was getting wet so that's why they changed the ball," said Samson at the post-match presentation.

"Different venues are playing in different ways. Here (D Y Patil Stadium), batting first was a bit tougher; the ball was a bit two-paced. I think batting second was much better. It depends on the wicket you are playing on," he added.

Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma hailed the young bowling duo Hrithik Shokeen and Kumar Kartikeya.

Shokeen bagged two wickets for 47 runs from three overs while Kartikeya had one for 19 from four.

"Both of these guys… they are courageous, they want to do something special.

"It gives me the confidence to bowl them at any given stage. We played very well; bowlers came together, batters did the job as well," said Rohit.

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