Handsome victory over Mumbai Indians (MI) on Tuesday (November 3) booked Sunrisers Hyderabad's (SRH) ticket to the playoffs and skipper David Warner didn't hold himself back from praising his team's "resilience" shown over the last few games.
Struggling for balance and consistency in the earlier phase of the tournament, SRH turned a corner for themselves, winning three knock-out fixtures on the bounce to finish third in the points table.
Against MI, the revival was completed in brilliant fashion in Sharjah as they first restricted the table-toppers to just 149/8 and then Warner (85*) and Wriddhiman Saha (58*) batted magnificently to take their team through with ten wickets intact.
"Obviously, they (Mumbai Indians) rested a couple of players, but to hold them to 150 on this ground is outstanding. Nadeem, to go for 18 in his four against a side with so many left-hand batsmen, is exceptional," said Warner at the post-match presentation ceremony, as quoted by ANI.
"There is great resilience in the side. We always put our best foot forward. A lot of the credit goes down to the franchise owners. We looked back to 2016 when we had to win every game to win the title."
"When you have your backs against the wall, you have nothing to lose. You just saw how much that dropped chance hurt Rashid, the passion with which we play. I pride myself on giving the team a great start. That is my duty and responsibility. Fortunately, we haven't had to chase a big total," he added.
The game was set-up beautifully for SRH in the first half by their bowling unit. Jason Holder (2/25), Shahbaz Nadeem (2/19) were fantastic on the night while Sandeep Sharma (3/34) and Rashid Khan (1/32) provided them able support.
SRH will now take on Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the eliminator on Friday (November 6) in Abu Dhabi, a fixture Warner likened to 2016 IPL final when they beat RCB to lift the prestigious trophy.
"RCB are a very good side. They have a lot of dangerous players. We beat them in the 2016 final. Another do-or-die game. Hopefully, we can carry the momentum from this game," he signed off.
