Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper David Warner praised his team’s all-round effort after they crushed Rajasthan Royals by 8 wickets in Match 40 of the Indian Premier League 2020 to keep their campaign alive this season.
SRH rode on a record 140-run unbeaten partnership between Manish Pandey and Vijay Shankar to gun down 155 in 18.1 overs against the Royals to move up 2 places to 5th on the IPL 2020 points table.
They had earlier restricted RR to 154 for 6 in 20 overs, thanks to all-rounder Jason Holder’s 3-wicket haul after opting to bowl first in Dubai.
“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 (Pandey and Shankar) getting the reward for their hard work,” Warner said after the match. (RR vs SRH, IPL 2020 Highlights)
SRH got off to a disastrous start with Warner and Jonny Bairstow getting dismissed by RR pacer Jofra Archer inside the first 3 overs but Pandey and Shankar’s knocks steadied the ship after which they got the team over the line with some big-hitting in the second half.
“I was frustrated in these games when you come against world class bowlers. There’s bit of swing and there’s bit of seam and you try hard to get through it, but with someone bowling at 150ks, you can’t do much. You can take him on and in my case I got caught.”
Warner also praised West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder, who was playing his 1st match for SRH this season.
Holder had come into this team as a replacement for the injured Mitchell Marsh, and proved his worth in the very first match by leading SRH’s bowling attack with 3 for 33 from 4 overs and also affected the run out of Robin Uthappa.
“Jason adds strength to our bowling, his experience, he’s an all-round package. He’s a great inclusion. It’s good to show people that we do have a middle-order.
“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, even in this cold weather and when the dew comes in,” Warner said.
Sunrisers Hyderabad will next face Kings XI Punjab at the Dubai International stadium in the second match on October 24 (Saturday).