Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) skipper Kane Williamson said his side came out with a complete performance as they clinched a convincing 45-run win against Kings XI Punjab in their Indian Premier League (IPL) fixture in Hyderabad.
After being asked to bat, Sunrisers rode on a typically belligerent 56-ball 81 run knock from David Warner on Monday as they posted 212/6 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. Chasing 213 for victory, K.L. Rahul staged a lone battle for Kings XI with a brilliant 56-ball 79 (4x4, 5x6) but other batsmen failed to deliver around him as they limped to 167/8 in 20 overs.
"I guess through the season you are looking for points and we're in the crunch time in the tournament. It was a big game for us and it's been close to a complete performance," Williamson said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
"Warner and (Jonny) Bairstow have been world class. It is very hard to fill someone's boots. But as a team, we'll have to pick up the slack. You're always looking for more runs," he added.
Hyderabad, who have 12 points from 12 games, have boosted their chances of making it to the playoffs after Monday's win. They will next lock horns with the Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.
Williamson said that his team would have to come around with a better performance against MI as they had to face a heart-wrenching 40-run defeat in their previous encounter against Rohit Sharma's men.
"Two games left and they are equally important, we have a day off and then we look forward to Mumbai. It was a really good performance from us all round, we lost to them last time, so we knew it's going to be a tough match," said the Kiwi.
"There are some guys on the sidelines raring to go. There will no doubt be some changes, they will be excited to get on the park and perform. We still have two games left before we consider those options�It is really exciting and a lot of hard work to go before any talk of finals," he added.
Meanwhile, Kings XI Punjab skipper Ravichandran Ashwin said his side was completely outplayed by Sunrisers.
"It's not right to think about what's happened in the past. It's important to stay in the present. Today is one of those days where we were were just completely outplayed, which hasn't happened this season," said Ashwin.
"I thought we started really poorly in the powerplay but we pulled it back in the end. If you see through the tournament, we have been struggling to chase anything above 190. That's probably a balance issue. It's straightforward. We have to keep winning at this stage in the IPL," he added.
Languishing at the sixth spot with 10 games, the Punjab-based franchise now has to win both their remaining matches at all cost to keep their chances alive of making it to the top four.
Ashwin said that his team won't give up easily and will fight in their remaining fixtures.
"A win helps to galvanise the team but having said that, we will not go away that easily in the tournament, we will keep sticking our necks out in rest of the games," he said.
