To get Kohli out is always special: Sandeep Sharma
However, they need to defeat a strong Mumbai Indians in their final league match to make it to the next stage. Speaking after the victory, Sandeep Sharma, who picked up two wickets – Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal for 17 runs
Hyderabad: Sunrisers Hyderabad dished out a comprehensive performance outclassing Royal Challengers Bangalore by five wickets to stay afloat in the play-offs race in IPL. The win also propelled the Hyderabad team to fourth place from seventh. They now have 12 points to their name.
However, they need to defeat a strong Mumbai Indians in their final league match to make it to the next stage. Speaking after the victory, Sandeep Sharma, who picked up two wickets – Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal for 17 runs and helped SRH restrict RCB to 120/7, said he was delighted with the Indian captain’s wicket. “Kohli is one of the greatest batsmen this sport has seen. To get him (Kohli) out is always special,” he added.
Having lost Bhuvneshwar Kumar to injury, Sandeep has shouldered the responsibility to perfection with the new ball. “My duty is to read the pitch and pass on the information to other bowlers. When I bowled the first over, I saw the wicket was a bit sticky. So the plan was to bowl wicket to wicket and to the top of off stumps. And then bring in variations like slower ones and knuckle balls. Today it came out nicely. When we lost Bhuvi, it was a big loss. We spoke about others taking more responsibility. We have been working our skills in nets. We are able to execute on the field which is great,” added the bowler from Punjab.
He also heaped praises on Natarajan, who conceded just 11 runs in his four overs and took a wicket. “I have been playing with Natrajan for a long time now. He has been working hard. He was practising his yorkers and it paid off. It was a dream to watch him bowl like that. It is great to have him in death over. Now he is an integral part of SRH,” he added.
He also said that their next match against Mumbai is a do-or-die game and they will go out and give their best to clinch the play-offs spot.
Meanwhile, RCB’s AB de Villiers said it was terrible to lose three matches in a row. “We were talking about 160 on the board at one point which was too high then. Then in the middle, we thought 140 would be ideal. But they (SRH) bowled very. They didn’t give us anything away. Pacers started off very well and spinners cashed in on it. Josh (Phillippe) and myself got out quickly and that put middle order under pressure,” he said.
On losing a third straight match, he said, “Terrible feeling to lose three in a row. That is the nature of the tournament. You can lose three and win three in a row. We want to take one step at a time. We have to come out with our best cricket on the day and things will look up very well,” he said.
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