Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) skipper Kane Williamson has credited Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) and game-changer Andre Russell for SRH’s 54-run defeat at the hands of KKR in the 61st match of the ongoing IPL 2022 on Saturday, May 14, at MCA Stadium, Pune.
Williamson further said that Sunrisers Hyderabad’s (SRH) bowling strategy didn’t work against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Saturday, as the Shreyas Iyer-led side managed to post 177/6 against the SRH on the back of Russell’s whirlwind 28-ball knock of 49 with the help of three fours and four sixes.
SRH could only muster 123 runs to lose the match by 54 runs to KKR. After the defeat, Williamson said that the regular fall of wickets didn’t allow SRH to build any sort of momentum in the match against KKR at the MCA Stadium.
Williamson said after the match: “Largely, the first half was reasonable without making more of a dent. It was a fair total and Russell got those big runs in the end. With the bat, we weren't able to get the momentum to set the platform or get those partnerships. Strong performance by KKR and we've struggled to get that momentum in those last few games, which we need for the remaining games.”
On giving Washington Sundar the crucial 20th over, Williamson said that he wanted to get wickets earlier, hence they used Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umran Malik’s full quotas early in the match, but the spinner was hit for three sixes by Russell.
The skipper said, “We wanted to take wickets [so we bowled Bhuvneshwar and Umran early and kept Washington for the last over], it was always going to be a tough over. Washy has stepped up for last overs, using our resources early was something we had planned but it didn't work out.”
Williamson has been also struggling in the ongoing IPL 2022 with the bat, as he has so far scored 208 runs from 12 games at a strike rate of 92.85 and he said that he is trying to get out of the lean patch.
He signed off by saying, “We wanted a decent start and Abhishek is hitting the ball beautifully, there were glimpses and signs of setting a platform but it wasn't to be and that was frustrating. [There are] Some consistencies to it (his own struggles), hit to the fielders, then try to hit big and walk back. It teaches you a lesson so some learning for me there.”
(With India Today Inputs)
