We knew we had to get 200: David Warner

The SRH skipper David Warner had a great IPL with the bat as well as the captain, leading his side to the title victory. Warner scored the bulk of the runs for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the season and was at his best on the final night as well.

Coming into the finals at Bangalore, which is known to be a batsman’s paradise, the skipper said that he knew that they needed to get at least 200 on the board against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to challenge them on their home turf. “We knew we had to get 200 against these guys, they have a phenomenal batting line-up,” Warner said.

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It was a surprise for most when Warner won the toss and elected to bat first, which was against the trend of the season, especially at the Chinnaswamy stadium with a flat batting surface and short boundaries. Warner said after the toss that, their strength is defending and they are sticking with that, regardless of the pitch and opposition.

SRH came into the final after winning two knockout matches – beating Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Eliminator and Gujarat Lions (GL) in the Qualifier 2. “We knew we had to win three games to win this tournament. To come here and beat Bangalore in front of this crowd, we were true underdogs. But we executed our skills, we batted well, bowled well, and fielded well. For us, the key was the team effort all the way. [Time to put my feet up] for 24 hours and then I’m off to the Caribbean. But the guys will well and truly celebrate this and it’s time to have a beer.”

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Warner praised Virat Kohli and the RCB team for their performance. “What a leader, Virat Kohli,” Warner said. “I can’t take it away from him. He set the benchmark for all batsmen this tournament and they are a fantastic team.”

Virat Kohli thanked the people of Bangalore for their support but was disappointed that they couldn’t cross the line for the fans. “We are really proud of the way we played as a team,” Kohli said. “I mentioned before the finals this was for the people of Bangalore. We wanted to do it for them because of the continuous support we have had. Even when we had the worst of seasons, they have come out to support us. I feel gutted that we were not able to cross the line for them. All the guys have been wanting to cross the line, we reached the finals twice and once in Champions League as well.”

Shikhar Dhawan admitted that even though their batting order didn’t fire at the beginning of the tournament, but later their batsmen started to contribute well and started putting more runs on the board. “It has been a great season for me and the team,” he said. “Davey led from the front from the first game and hats off to him. It has been a great journey. I feel our team is balanced. Initially, we didn’t click as a batting unit then as the tournament went ahead, we started putting more runs on the board. The way [Ben] Cutting has got into the side and he played just two or three matches, but has performed really well.”

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