IPL 2021: 'Teams batting second should have won all of the last four games in Chennai' - David Warner
Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper David Warner has reflected on his team's debilitating loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore on Wednesday. Calling the performance 'almost identical' to Kolkata Knight Rider's 10-run loss to the Mumbai Indians a day earlier, Warner said there should be 'no excuses' for such a show.
For the third consecutive time in IPL 2021, the team that won the toss chose to bowl in Chennai and fell agonizingly short of the target. Chasing 150, Sunrisers Hyderabad repeated the script perfectly by building a strong partnership at the top of the order and throwing the towel in the middle overs.
From 96-1, David Warner and co collapsed to 130-7 within five overs. They required 16 to win in the last over but lost two more wickets and conceded a six-run defeat. Speaking after the match, David Warner argued that the chasing sides should have won all the recent games in Chennai.
"You look at the last four games here, the teams batting second should have won each game. You get the minor hiccup but if you have people there at the end, you should be winning it. The last night's game was the perfect example. We almost played an identical game so there are no excuses," said David Warner.
David Warner was the highest scorer for his team, notching a crucial 54 off just 37 balls.
But the southpaw lost his wicket at a critical juncture and triggered an unforgettable collapse. Manish Pandey - who also looked good for his 38 - along with Jonny Bairstow (12) and Abdul Samad all lost their wickets in the 17th over of Shahbaz Ahmed, playing some inexplicable shots.
'Quite disappointing the way that we approached the game in the middle overs' - David Warner
David Warner sounded slightly agitated while talking about the batsmen who followed him to the crease. Warner said he was 'hurt' that his teammates gave away their wickets to Ahmed when time was on their side and they looked comfortable in the chase.
"It was quite disappointing the way that we approached the game in the middle especially with the left-arm orthodox (Shahbaz Ahmed) coming in, cross-batted shots and hitting them in the air isn't probably the way to go here. You got to do that when you first come in and we and there was still plenty of time left in the game to chase that total down we were doing it comfortably. You know, it just... it hurts," said David Warner.
Despite their back-to-back losses, SRH will have no respite from Chennai as the venue will host their next three games as well. Concluding his address, David Warner said these matches would be about playing 'simple cricket' and doing the basics right while learning from the defeats at the same time.
"We have got another 3 games on this surface so we know now how to approach it. The wickets aren't going to get better here so the key is to make sure we execute through the middle, try and take early wickets in the powerplays, and then when we are batting it's about consolidating through that first 6 with minimum damage. It's simple cricket," the SRH skipper signed off.
SRH will now meet the in-form Mumbai Indians at the same ground on April 17.