IPL 2021: "He was going to bat four no matter what" - David Warner defends Kane Williamson’s position
David Warner has stated Sunrisers Hyderabad are unlikely to change Kane Williamson’s batting position despite the Kiwi’s electric cameo on Wednesday. The SRH skipper revealed Williamson will slot in at no.4 and continue to do his job at the position.
Many felt Kane Williamson came in too late against the Chennai Super Kings, with the Kiwi maestro coming in to bat in the 18th over. After Williamson’s late blitzkrieg took SRH to 171/3, several wondered what might have been had he come in to bat earlier.
But David Warner was adamant after the game that SRH made the right call, despite their below-par total being chased without much fuss by CSK.
“He was going to bat four no matter what. That’s where he bats. At the end of the day, we soaked up the balls at the top. He didn’t manage to come in. He’s batting four for us and that’s his job,” Warner stated.
Kane Williamson needed just ten balls to show his class, carting CSK bowlers for 26 runs during his short stay at the crease. His late assault was the only reason why SRH went past the 170 mark.
On a day where Manish Pandey and David Warner played more than 84% of the total balls on offer for just 110 runs, analysts slammed the side for keeping one of their best batsmen in the dugout for too long.
Although David Warner admitting his laggard 55-ball 57 didn’t do SRH any favors, he pointed out how the team’s poor start with the ball contributed to the loss as well.
“We still had a 170 on board. Yet again we couldn’t take powerplay wickets, which is always difficult. So when they get off to a good start like that it is always tough to bring it back on a good surface like this. The boys came out and put a 100% effort, we fought well till the end. The two CSK openers batted extremely well. I felt it was going to be difficult to take wickets once they were in and going. But when we got that breakthrough, felt like we could squeeze them a little bit but they were ahead of the game,” David Warner mentioned.
David Warner confident about SRH’s comeback
Sunrisers Hyderabad slipped to their fifth loss of IPL 2021, with the team stuck at the bottom of the standings with just two points. Confident in his team's ability, David Warner explained how they will bounce back in the future.
“It is about being positive. We know what this wicket is like now, it is obviously a good batting surface. I think we've got a day game here as well. I think 170 is probably the par mark here at night, but it could play a bit diffedifferentlyng the day. From a batting perspective, try and not hit fielders, try and hit gaps. We got great spirits in the team. We are a bunch of fighters. We are doing everything we can to come out here and win, that is our ultimate goal and the guys will be hurt by it, but we will be up and about,” David Warner concluded.
SRH will now play their next game on May 2, when they take on the Rajasthan Royals. David Warner and co. will target a win in that game to avoid falling adrift of the other teams at this stage of the season.