SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) batting mainstay Kane Williamson stood up to his personality against Delhi Capitals (DC) in the second qualifier of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020. He didn’t let the pressure take a toll on him and gave all to snatch the game from DC, but unfortunately, results didn’t end up in SRH’s favour.
While defending 190 runs target, when SRH’s lost the wicket of their key man David Warner, DC would have thought that the game was in their favour. But Kane Williamson dogged mindset made the task tougher for Delhi. He found an unlikely ally in the form of Samad and SRH had the game in their hand.
Unfortunately, Williamson gave away his wicket at the crucial juncture of the chase. Marcus Stoinis’ golden arm got his wicket as Kagiso Rabada picked up the catch. The New Zealander was out after scoring 67 runs with SRH still needing 43 runs in the last three overs.
Rashid Khan and Abdul Samad gave some hope by hitting boundaries, but Kagiso Rabad got their wickets and eventually, SRH was knocked out of the tournament, losing the match by 17 runs.
During the post-match press conference, Kane Williamson was full of praise for Delhi Capitals. He reckons them as a good side and said that they put up a good show to make SRH struggle against them.
“Delhi is a very good side. They have been trying to find the rhythm to their play like we were and we managed to for a little period of time. Delhi was able to put it together against us and they played very well. They put a competitive score,” said Williamson during the virtual post-match press conference.
Shame not to make the finals: Kane Williamson
Kane Williamson said that it was a shame that they didn’t make to the final even though they had the chance in the middle. However, he is proud of the efforts that his side put in to come so far.
“Going in the second innings risks needed to be taken. We did not get off to a good start but we managed to get good partnerships through the middle period. We still had a bit of opportunity. It’s a shame not to make the finals but the guys can be proud of their effort,” said Williamson.
In the last couple of editions, SRH has been close to the IPL trophy but has failed to grab it. As this season it remained a similar show, Kane Williamson believes that they might not have been playing their best. He feels that they need to find the rhythm from the very start of the tournament to dominate in this tournament.
“Season of fine lines. We had several close losses. Perhaps we were not playing our best, every team is very strong, everybody has beaten everybody, you need to be at the top of your game. As a team, we were looking for that rhythm to our play. It was nice to find it at the crunch time, we would have loved to go through,” he added.
After beating SunRisers Hyderabad, Delhi Capitals have entered their maiden IPL final and will take on Mumbai Indians to clinch the trophy of IPL 2020.