Below par batting hurt us, says skipper Warner
We were 30 runs short. It was quite a tough wicket to bat on. It’s been quite a disappointing wicket all season.
Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner believes the team’s batsmen let the defending champions down down in the seven-wicket defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders in the Eliminator on Wednesday.
The Eliminator was hampered by rain as KKR successfully chased down a revised target of 48 runs off six overs with four balls to spare.
SRH had managed just 128 for seven wickets in their 20 overs after KKR opted to bowl.
KKR captain Gautam Gambhir felt the M Chinnaswamy Stadium pitch was excellent and the bounce aided his batsmen. However, David Warner felt the condition of the playing surface was quite poor.
“We were 30 runs short. It was quite a tough wicket to bat on. The ball was holding up a bit. It’s been quite a disappointing wicket all season. And they bowled really well on it,” Warner said after the match.
“The way we batted wasn’t good enough and six-over games can be niggly,” he added.
The defending champions boasted of the top run-getters of the tournament in Warner and Shikhar Dhawan. However, KKR put on a terrific bowling display — fuelled by the passion and perfect planning of Gambhir — to restrict the SRH batsmen.
Nathan Coulter-Nile was the star for Kolkata Knight Riders as the Aussie pace bowler picked three wickets giving away just 20 runs in his four overs.
Warner (37) and Kane Williamson (24) were the top-scorers for Sunrisers Hyderabad as a drizzle began in the last over of their innings.
Kolkata Knight Riders’ batsmen attempted to pile on the runs early which resulted in the fall of three wickets within six deliveries — Chris Lynn (7), Yusuf Pathan (0) and Robin Uthappa (1) making way in the first two overs.
Captain Gambhir then led from the front with an unbeaten 32, including two fours and two sixes.
“We had to come out with positive intent. We got three wickets, but we knew they would come hard and it happened,” Warner said of the KKR innings.
It help Knight Riders make amends for IPL 2016, when they had lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad at the same stage of the tournament.