Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) captain David Warner said Kane Williamson missed his team's opening game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Dubai this Monday (September 21) due to an injury.
Warner, after SRH's 10-run defeat, informed that Williamson had sustained a quadriceps injury while training in the lead-up to encounter and it influenced their decision-making as far as selection is concerned.
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"Kane Williamson is not fit, he hurt his quad (quadriceps) while training the other day and (with) Mohammad Nabi. We felt playing two spinners here. Given the thought process, we wanted to chase which probably was not an option if we got stuck the other way, so we went with bowling all-rounder hitting the wicket as hard as we could. Obviously, disappointing for Mitchell (Marsh) to go down as he did," Warner said in the post-match press conference, as quoted by ANI.
Familiar problems resurfaced for SRH, as their middle-order failed to take the team through once again after Manish Pandey (34) and Jonny Bairstow (61), who had got things under control following Warner's (6) early run-out, were dismissed themselves in the chase of 164.
The team collapsed from 121/2 at one stage to be all out for just 153 in 19.4 overs, much to Warner's despair.
"I think through the middle period, it is very hard to play the cross-bat shots. You have to obviously play as straight as you can and you have to try and make the pace."
"The ball was obviously going up and down, but I felt that once your two batters are in, it was actually difficult to try and contain and wickets changed the momentum."
"Disappointing not to have two batters for us in the end or one batter but that is is how the game can go."
Warner also explained the indifferent day in the field for both teams, saying the light-towers being very tall at the Dubai International Stadium, makes it difficult to sight and grab the ball on occasions. In the second half itself, RCB dropped three chances of in-form Bairstow.
"It is very different, we are playing with high-rise light towers and round-circle towers so the ball does not have to go too high that can be distracting," said Warner.
"At the end of the day, you got basic errors that were out there. For us, there was no communication that is just poor. Aaron Finch will be disappointed to drop that, it was an absolute sitter."
"Coming here at the new venue admits a few challenges but a bit more communication for our side," he added.
The 33-year-old also talked about the first experience of playing an IPL match behind the closed doors amid COVID-19 pandemic.
"I think in general with cricket, you miss the fans and spectators," he said. "We play this game to put on a show for them and hopefully, they can come and watch us. Obviously, unfortunate at the moment. These are unprecedented times but we have to thank and credit all the people behind the scenes."
Sunrisers next face Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Saturday (September 26) in Abu Dhabi.
