Abu Dhabi: After suffering a 17-run loss against Shreyas Iyer led Delhi Capitals in Qualifier 2 of Indian Premier League (IPL), SunRisers Hyderabad’s top batsman Kane Williamson said ‘It’s a shame’ that Sunrisers Hyderabad could not make the IPL final. He also asserted that his side can take pride in its remarkable fightback to make the playoffs after the early struggle in the tournament.
It was Delhi’s second win in the last seven games, while the loss snapped SRH’s four-match winning streak. “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,” Williamson said during the post-match press conference.
“Going in the second innings, risks needed to be taken. We did not get off to a good start but we managed to build a few partnerships through the middle period. We still had a bit of opportunity. It’s a real shame not to make the finals but I think, particularly in the last three weeks, the guys can be proud of how they played. Sunrisers were inconsistent in the first phase of the tournament and Williamson rued the ‘close losses’, describing it as a ‘season of fine lines’.
We had a number of 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,” the New Zealand skipper said.
In Qualifier 2 SunRisers change their opener and decided to open with Priyam Garg against Delhi Capitals. Asked about the decision, Williamson said: “I don’t know the exact thoughts but what I feel is that Priyam has a huge amount of talent and throughout this season, he had a lot of repeated opportunity. Every time you watch him play in the nets, you can see how well he hits the ball. He hit some beautiful shots and he is an exciting player for the future, for sure.”
After the departure of skipper David Warner, Williamson took the responsibility upon himself and had a partnership of 67 runs with Abdul Samad who also batted brilliantly. However, Williamson’s 67 went in useless as Delhi Capitals made it to their maiden IPL remaining with a 17-run win over Hyderabad.
“Was just trying to re-establish our partnership, take the game to a stage where we can then change the pressure. For a long period of time, they were on top of us, we were able to do that for a small amount of time. Abdul Samad came out and hit the ball beautifully, allowed us to get back in the game although there was quite a bit of work to do.”
“It was a really interesting season, a mixture of experience and young players, who had a number of opportunities which will be good for them and also for the team moving forward,” he signed off.
