A measured half-century by captain Kane Williamson, after their bowlers applied brakes in the last five overs, sealed Sunrisers Hyderabads eight-wicket win over Gujarat Titans at the D.Y Patil Stadium to record their second successive win of the tournament.
After the bowlers conceded 44 runs and took three wickets in the last five overs to restrict Gujarat to 162/7, Williamson led the chase with patience and precision while making 57 off 46 balls, laced with two fours and four sixes. He found support from Abhishek Sharma (42) and Nicholas Pooran doing the finishing job with an unbeaten 34.
“It was I thought a very good game of cricket. Probably it was a par total. They had a strong bowling attack. We wanted to get partnerships and we got that. The guys have been clear about the roles. There are a number of challenges. The execution was largely good. It was tough to hit through the line. Nice to get some partnerships and get across the line. Might just be cramps for Rahul and hopefully he can recover quickly. Washington as well. Hopefully he can recover quickly as well. It is just about guys going out there and trying to perform for the team. It was a nice improved performance today,” said Williamson.
The chase began with Williamson beaten on the inside edge off Mohammed Shami and was struck on pads. Hardik Pandya consulted keeper Matthew Wade, but eventually didn’t go for review. But replays later showed Williamson would have been out.
Williamson, who was on 27 off 31 balls till the 12th over, slammed Pandya for pulled back-to-back sixes to take 16 runs off the over. After hitting a six off Rahul Tewatia, Rahul Tripathi had to retire hurt due to muscle cramps in his leg.
But it didn’t deter Hyderabad as Williamson reached his fifty in 42 balls by moving across and using the pace of the ball off Ferguson to scoop over short fine leg. He followed it up with a crisp drive through the gap between cover and mid-off before he skied an off-cutter from Pandya to mid-on.
