After registering an emphatic eight-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals, SunRisers Hyderabad skipper David Warner on Thursday said that the side played a complete game against Steve Smith-led side and they excelled in all departments of the game.
SunRisers Hyderabad chased down a total of 155 with eight wickets in hand and 11 balls to spare. Manish Pandey and Vijay Shankar played unbeaten knocks of 83 and 52 respectively to take their team over the line. With this win, SunRisers Hyderabad has moved to fifth place in the points table with eight points while Rajasthan Royals has gone down to seventh place with eight points.
“I think the way we started was fantastic. We were able to bring it back after the powerplay. It’s been a complete game, we have been asking for. Good to see two guys getting the reward,” Warner told host broadcaster Star Sports at the post-match presentation.
Warner was dismissed in the first over by Jofra Archer. Talking about his dismissal, Warner said: “I was frustrated. You try hard to get through the first over, but with someone bowling at 150ks, you can’t do much. You can take him on.”
Earlier, Jason Holder’s three-wicket haul helped SunRisers Hyderabad restrict Rajasthan Royals to 154/6 in the allotted twenty overs.
Sanju Samson and Ben Stokes played knocks of 36 and 30 respectively but the Royals kept on losing wickets at regular intervals and as a result, the side was restricted to under the 160-run mark.
Talking about his decision to bowl first, Warner said: “We saw a lot of dew last night during training, and it came in again. Jason adds strength to our bowling, his experience, he’s an all-round package. He’s a great inclusion. We do have a middle-order, there are always question on it. We haven’t lost early wickets before, so they haven’t got a chance. I have said in the past, we are a better defending team. You have to back yourself, no matter what. This cold weather and dew comes in.”
