IPL 2016: Aaron Finch in awe of David Warner’s knock in Qualifier 2

After losing out to Sunrisers Hyderabad in a dramatic fashion, Gujarat Lions bowed out of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). The star performer for Gujarat Lions, Aaron Finch, stated that they had a competitive total on board but just couldn’t get David Warner out. Warner played a match winning innings to guide his team single-handedly to their first IPL finals. Finch was in awe of his Australian teammate for his well controlled knock but lamented on the fact that their team have been at the receiving end of some brilliant knocks in this tournament. He believes Gujarat played competitive cricket but some world-class players dented them from reaching the IPL final. Masterful David Warner helps SRH surge into IPL 2016 final with 4-wicket win over GL in Qualifier 2

Finch also praised the young Bipul Sharma for his valuable contribution who came and eased the pressure of David Warner. According to cricbuzz.com, he told, “We just couldn’t break that partnership. We knew that he (Bipul) could hit some big sixes. I think he got 27 off 11 balls. Batting at No. 8 there, we probably expected him to get David on strike but he played a beautiful knock in his own right. But no one ever takes you by surprise. You see so many players, you see so many games in this tournament that you are very rarely caught off guard. But that was some beautiful striking as well and probably just a little bit of mis-execution a couple of times.”

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He credited the opponent team and added, “At the end of the day, you have to take your hat off to a great team. They performed beautifully and that’s the third time they have beaten us, so they probably had the wood over us unfortunately. I think we continued to take wickets right throughout the innings which was fantastic, we just couldn’t get Davey out unfortunately and that really hurt us.”

Highlighting the fact that they were struck by some brilliant batting display by the opponents and Warner being the chief destructor for them in this game, the Australian opener said, “It was an amazing knock, wasn’t it? The way that he controlled the innings the whole way through and went right through and got them home was outstanding. We have been at the receiving end of a couple of great knocks in this tournament and it is just that one batter in every couple of games seems to get us. It was AB in the last game and Davey tonight.

This was Gujarat Lions first season in the IPL and they performed magnificently to reach so far in the tournament. They defeated some quality teams and won six of their first seven games. They had a downfall after that as they won only three of their last seven group stage game but gave a fight in almost every match they lost. Finch was in full praise of his team and replied, “We can hold our head up very high. We played some really great cricket throughout this tournament but unfortunately we just couldn’t get them world-class players out when it counted right at the end there.”

Finch is right to say that Gujarat should be proud after a great season that saw them finish on top of the table. They had some good performers throughout the tournament. They defeated Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders in must win games to enter the playoffs.

In conclusion, he credited the unusual spinner in their team, Shivil Kaushik for his performance. “He has been outstanding for us. Anyone who can bowl with an unusual action like that and who can spin the ball both ways is a huge asset and he has been outstanding. It was beautiful the way that he bowled tonight, under pressure in a big game, to come back into the team after a few games out, just shows a real lot of character and someone who hasn’t had cricket given to him easily. He has had to work very hard for what he has achieved. He was outstanding, he was great all season and I think he can play a big part going forward”, mentioned the Aussie batsman.