Published: Apr 09, 2018, 11:34 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 09, 2018, 11:34 PM (IST)
Hyderabad demolished Rajasthan in their opening encounter of Indian T20 League 2018 at Hyderabad. When David Warner was banned from the current edition due to ball-tampering scandal, no one would have predicted such a polished start from his franchise in the tournament. Nonetheless, their bowlers, fielders and batsmen showed temperament to outclass Rajasthan by 9 wickets on Monday. Though Siddarth Kaul deceived batsmen with extra pace, Shakib Al Hasan was accurate and Rashid Khan got turn, Kane Williamson was spot on with his bowling changes and field placements to lead from the front. Williamson described the thumping win as “team effort”, and praised Shikhar Dhawan for his unbeaten 77.
A team effort
“No doubt we missed Davey (Warner). He’s been a fantastic player for a lot of years. Good to see everyone stepping up. Guys were great on field and all did their roles well. It was nice to see people step up well with bat and ball. All the bowlers certainly played their part. We got wickets at key parts but it was important we fielded well. We took some really good catches. A team effort. Yes, there are small areas we can still improve,” pointed out Williamson.
A fair surface actually
On bowling a lot of short balls, Williamson clarified, “It wasn’t a planned thing, the surface was such that the short ball was coming on nicely. There was something for the pacers and the spinners while the batsmen were also to score runs. A fair surface actually.
Williamson credited Dhawan’s intent from ball one. “I had the best seat in the house, he hit it really well. The intent was great from ball one. Saha also showed intent from the start. Hopefully we can keep it up in the coming games as well,” concluded the skipper.
From 48 for 1, Rajasthan slipped to 125 for 9. In reply, Hyderabad chased the total in 15.5 overs with only 1 wicket to fall.
