Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner was a satisfied man after his side’s comprehensive victory of eight wickets against Rajasthan Royals on Thursday, despite losing the openers early.
Manish Pandey and Vijay Shankar were the stars of the nigh as Sunrisers Hyderabad comfortably defeated Rajasthan Royals to keep their hopes alive of making it to the playoffs of the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
“It’s just great to show people that we do have a middle order, there are always [a] question on it. They haven’t had much time to bat in previous matches, we haven’t lost early wickets before. For them to come out and play like this, I am so happy for them,” said Warner in the post-match presentation ceremony.
Chasing a 155-run target, Hyderabad were off to a shaky start, losing the services of skipper Warner (4) and opener Jonny Bairstow (10) cheaply, thanks to Jofra Archer’s (2/21) magical opening spell.
However, an unbeaten 140-run partnership between Pandey (83 off 47 balls) and Shankar (52 off 51), eventually helped the Orange Army reaching the target with much more ease than they had initially anticipated.
Earlier, some disciplined bowling by SRH bowlers, especially Jason Holder (3/33), restricted RR to a modest 154/6 wickets in the allotted 20 overs.
“Jason adds strength to our bowling, his height and experience… we didn’t get to see him bat tonight but he is an all-round package. He’s a quality player and a great inclusion,” said Warner.
“I think the way we started was fantastic. We were able to bring it back after the powerplay. It’s been a complete game which is what we have been asking for. Good to see two guys getting the reward for their hard work.”
The win helped David Warner’s men climb to the fifth spot with eight points from 10 matches. They can end up in the last four if they manage to win the remaining matches. For Rajasthan, on the other hand, the campaign could well be over after the defeat on Thursday.