Published: Sep 25, 2013, 08:51 AM (IST)
Edited: Sep 25, 2013, 08:51 AM (IST)
Thisara Perera picked up two wickets and scored an unbeaten 32-ball 57 to help Sunrisers Hyderabad to beat Trinidad and Tobago in the CLT20 2013 © IANS (File Photo)
Mohali: Sep 24, 2013
Soon after his heroic show that powered Sunrisers Hyderabad to a four-wicket win over Trinidad and Tobago in the Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20) 2013 in Mohali on Tuesday, Man-of-the-Match Thisara Perera said he likes to contribute when the chips are down.
Perera produced a counter-attacking 32-ball 57 to lead Hyderabad to a win after the home side was struggling at 95 for four in the 14th over chasing 161.
“Every time I have a chance, like this pressure situation, I like to handle the situation, that’s it,” Perera said.
“I think a lot of Sri Lankans must be watching this match back at home. I’m proud of my achievements as an all-rounder. After my side strain, this is my normal speed I’m bowling at,” he added.
Perera picked up two for 26 in his four-over spell with the ball. Hyderabad captain Shikhar Dhawan acknowledged that his side’s fielding was not up to the mark.
“It was a great game of cricket form both the sides, heartbeats were up. We didn’t field that well and dropped a couple of catches too. We should have restricted them to 150,” he said.
Dhawan, as expected, was full of praise for Perera.
“But it was amazing batting from Perera, the way he was hitting sixes — clean and great timing. He bowled very well too, very accurate and that’s how we kept Trinidad and Tobago to a decent score.”
Trinidad and Tobago captain Denesh Ramdin thought they were 10 runs short of what could have been a winning score.
“We were about 10 runs less, Bravo got out at the wrong time and we couldn’t score off Dale Steyn’s last three balls, that’s what went in their favour. We need to work on that.”
As far as the 24-year-old Sri Lankan’s batting was concerned, Ramdin said, “We tried to get Perera out and we knew his was the important wicket and Darren Sammy also played a cameo.”
Sammy termed Perera’s knock as one of the best he’d seen. “It was one of the best innings I’ve seen in a while. It’s one of the wins we need to get us going in the tournament.”
“We bowled as a team right from the Indian Premier League (IPL), if somebody doesn’t bowl that well, Perera and I just bowl straight and do the job. We work as a team just like Perera did on Tuesday,” Sammy said.
