Hyderabad: Sunrisers Hyderabad dished out a clinical performance to thrash Kings XI Punjab by massive 69 runs on Thursday. While openers Jonny Bairstow (97) and David Warner (52) provided a good platform with 160-run opening stand to help SRH post 201/6, Rashid Khan picked up three wickets for just 12 runs in his four overs to dismiss the opposition for 132 in 16.5 overs.
Speaking after the match, the leggie from Afghanistan said picking the right line and length early in the spell helped him. “I always try to keep it simple. I don’t want to put myself under pressure. Adjusting to line and length was crucial and after bowling the first three deliveries, I was sure about what lengths and line to bowl and that helped me. Also when you have 200 on the board, it gives us a lot of confidence. Chasing 200 on this ground is not easy as the average score here is 165-170,” he said.
He also lauded openers for the start they provided. “Both (Warner and Bairstow) have been doing well for the team. Both are destructive and they are known for giving good starts. They did that in India (last season) as well.”
With their lead bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar ruled out of IPL with injury, the bowling unit was under more pressure to perform. But the youngster is happy the way they responded so far. “It’s a big loss as he has been doing so well for the team, not just with the new ball but with his death overs. But still, we have the guys who are in great form. Khaleel (Ahmed), Natarajan and Sandeep (Sharma) are in good shape. As a team, we are very happy how our bowlers performed so far.” Speaking about his final over where he dismissed dangerous batsman Nicholas Pooran (77 from 37), he said, “My plan was to bowl dot balls to create pressure. After four dot balls, he went too hard at the ball and gave us a chance.”
Meanwhile, KXIP captain KL Rahul said losing wickets at regular intervals cost them. “When you are at the bottom of the table we think a lot of things are not going well. But no team has the top six of them firing. So it is up to the in-form players to make it count. Openers were expected to give good starts but I don’t think we are too dependent on top order,” he said.
He further said that there are a lot of positives from the loss. “IPL is the biggest platform and the way youngsters (Ravi Bishnoi and Arshadeep Singh) performed was heartening. They bowled some high-pressure overs but they held their nerves and that gave us a lot of confidence.”
He also lauded Pooran’s innings and knew of his abilities. “It’s phenomenal. We have been having a lot of chats and he is someone who wants to improve and win matches for us. Till he was there, he made opposition uncomfortable. Others need to contribute and support him. Hopefully both batting and bowling click together in the future and win us more games.”