Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) skipper Kane Williamson has showered rich praise on pace sensation Umran Malik, saying that the latter is a special talent.
Umran clocked 153 kmph to bowl the fastest delivery of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday (October 6).
"He certainly is special (on Umran Malik). We saw him in the nets in the last couple of seasons and he is a real competitor and is proving to be effective even on slower surfaces. He's got a lot of mates in the team as well and that helps in sharing the knowledge. It's a great opportunity for the younger guys to get involved and hopefully we will keep learning and we go again on Friday," Williamson said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
Coming to the match, SRH defeated RCB by four runs to register their third victory in the IPL 2021 season.
Asked to bat first, Sunrisers posted 141/7 in their allotted 20 overs. Opener Jason Roy was the top scorer with 38-ball 44 while Williamson played a handy knock of 29-ball 31.
With the ball, SRH restricted RCB to 137/6 as Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jason Holder, Siddarth Kaul, Umran Malik, and Rashid Khan picked one wicket each.
"It's been a tough season and it's great to see some of those small improvements. To see those small adjustments was good, we thought that total was competitive and we saw that fight throughout the ball as well. I was just trying to maximize the powerplay and the ball was holding on the surface and we were fortunate to build a partnership and we knew things wouldn't happen quickly from a bowling perspective, but we knew if we held our nerve and stay there for longer periods, we can build that pressure,” Williamson said.
During the chase, Glenn Maxwell was looking set to finish the match for Bangalore but Kane Williamson’s direct-hit sent him back to the pavilion for 25-ball 40.
“Game was getting tight and dismissing him (Maxwell) one way or the other was the key, they are a fantastic side and even though we are not in the contention it was great to see the fight," the SRH captain said.
(With ANI inputs)
