Relief for skipper David Warner as defending champions beat Gujarat Lions by eight wickets to enter play offs
Skipper David Warner celebrates Hyderabadu00c3u0083u00c2u00a2u00c3u0082u00c2u0080u00c3u0082u00c2u0099s win over Gujarat with Vijay Shankar on Saturday. Pic/AFP
Skipper David Warner celebrates Hyderabad’s win over Gujarat with Vijay Shankar on Saturday. Pic/AFP
With a bit of luck and a lot of pluck, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) notched up a desperately-needed win over Gujarat Lions (GL) at Green Park on Saturday to ensure a berth in the play offs. The defending champions were in danger of missing out on a chance to defend their crown, but they rose to the occasion to pull off a comfortable eight-wicket win.
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Lucky Warner
A little bit of luck came Sunrisers' way when skipper David Warner survived a caught behind appeal when on 29, chasing 155 for a win. Trying to cut leg-spinner Ankit Soni, Warner edged the ball to Dinesh Karthik behind the stumps, but umpire Anil Chaudhary was unmoved. Having lost Shikhar Dhawan and Moises Henriques in quick succession, the departure of Warner could have been disastrous for his team. Thereon, it was one-way traffic as Warner (69 not out) and Vijay Shankar (63 not out) killed the match as a contest with some brilliant strokeplay, romping home with 11 balls to spare.
The Lions, meanwhile, have nobody else but themselves to blame for not finishing their campaign on a winning note. After being asked to bat, the Lions roar away to a glorious start by Dwayne Smith (54) and Ishan Kishan (61). Both notched up half-centuries in their 111-run partnership in just 11 overs and they looked on course to cross the 200-mark. But, unbelievably they lost 10 wickets for the addition of just 43 runs in 51 deliveries to hand the match to the rivals on a platter.
Pacer Mohammed Siraj was the pick of the bowlers for Sunrisers with 4-32. Afghan spinner Rashid Khan claimed 3-34 off four overs, while pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Siddarth Kaul picked two and one wicket respectively.
Credit to bowlers: Warner
Warner was visibly relieved to see the team make it to the top-four. "It's a great relief to make it to the play offs on our own. It would have been a shame if Sunrisers wouldn't have made it. I was scratching my head when Lions' openers were on the rampage. When we got wickets back-to-back, it showed the wicket was slowing a bit. Credit goes to the bowlers, the way they fought back, was fantastic. We got a little bit of luck while batting. But that's cricket," the Sunrisers captain said.
It was a combination of smart bowling and poor shot selection that led to Lions' downfall with only Ravindra Jadeja getting into double figures after the departure of Smith and Kishan. It was also heartening to see the Hyderabad bowlers bounce back after being hammered black and blue in the first 11 overs. This performance should hold them in good stead during the play offs.
The only consolation for Gujarat Lions, who became the first team to complete the engagements, was that they managed to finish ahead of bottom-placed Royal Challengers Bangalore on the points table. Lions' captain Suresh Raina said that it was a disappointing campaign for his team this time around. "It was indeed a disappointing season overall."
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