Sunrisers Hyderabad’s skipper David Warner was critical of his bowlers after their defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders in the 14th edition of the VIVO Indian Premier League. David Warner won the toss and elected to bowl first in the spinner’s favouring track of MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. Nevertheless, KKR’s batsman didn’t succumb to the pressure of high-end SRH bowlers like Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
IPL 2021: SRH vs KKR match highlights
KKR’s batsmen Nitish Rana and Rahul Tripathi carried their side to a favourable total in the first innings. Nitish Rana scored 80 runs off 56 balls and Rahul Tripathi clinched a quick fifty in just 29 deliveries. Dinesh Karthik played a crucial cameo of 9-ball 22 runs to help KKR reach the defendable total of 188 runs.
SRH started off their run-chase on a poor note as they lost their openers- Warner (3) and Saha (7)- very cheaply. Manish Pandey (61*) and Jonny Bairstow (55) got the game back on track for SRH. The duo amassed a partnership of 92 runs before Bairstow got out in the 13th over. Manish Pandey was seen fighting till the end but failed to carry his team to the finishing point.
IPL 2021: David Warner’s post-match conference
“I didn’t think there were that many runs on this wicket. They adapted really well, had a good partnership. From a bowling perspective, we failed to execute the first ball of most overs and then conceded a lot at the end,” he said.
📸 from our season opener against #KKR.#OrangeOrNothing #OrangeArmy #IPL2021 #SRHvKKR pic.twitter.com/JM0Mpk0voA
— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) April 12, 2021
“We lost early wickets, and Jonny and Manish got us in a good position, so we had our chances. The dew made a difference. If the bowlers overpitched, it was easy to hit it, and with the height in their team, and with the cross-seam, it stopped a little bit on us.
“We would like to have won the first game, but we have four more games at this venue and hopefully we will get used to the square and the dimensions of this ground.”
