The Sunrisers Hyderabad yesterday opted to play without their last year skipper Kane Williamson in their opening match of IPL 2020. This decision did ring some bells as Williamson is one of the leading batsmen in the world. The Sunrisers in the end surely missed the service of Williamson during the chase against RCB.
Apart from Johnny Bairstow and Manish Pandey no other SRH batsmen adapted to the conditions as they fell short in the run chase. There fragile middle order was completely exposed by RCB bowlers and they registered a massive win at Dubai.
After the conclusion of the match SRH skipper David Warner finally revealed the reason for Kane Williamson missing out in their first match. Apparently, Williamson had a quad injury before the match and that is why he was ruled out against RCB. Warner also added that he wanted a hit the deck bowler in Mitchell Marsh, hence Mohammad Nabi was benched.
Kane Williamson Is Not Fit- David Warner
“Kane Williamson is not fit, he hurt his quad (quadriceps) while training the other day and (with) Mohammad Nabi. We felt playing two spinners here. Given the thought process, we wanted to chase which probably was not an option if we got stuck the other way, so we went with bowling all-rounder hitting the wicket as hard as we could,” Warner said post the loss against RCB.
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Unfortunately for SRH, Marsh suffered an ankle sprain very early in the match and could not take further part in the field. However, the all-rounder showed character and appeared to bat late in the chase. Warner lauded the efforts shown by Marsh as even after getting injured he risked taking his side home.
Meanwhile, the Sunrisers Hyderabad will now take on Kolkata Knight Riders in the second match of IPL 2020. It will be interesting to see what combination Warner’s side decides to play on Saturday, September 26 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
Also Read: IPL 2020: SRH Skipper David Warner Provides An Update on Mitchell Marsh Injury