Bengaluru: Victorious Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner with all humility hailed Virat Kohli as a "great leader" as he termed it a total "team effort" after beating Royal Challengers Bangalore by 8 runs in the IPL final, here on Sunday.
"It was a fantastic team achievement. To lead this side and the support from the players, me pulling my weight with the runs, it has been a hard journey. It's a team effort. To have the perfect game, we needed to gel. For us, the key was team effort all the way," Warner said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
Asked about the target, Warner said: "Look we knew, we had to get 200. Virat Kohli, what a great leader! I can't take it away from him. He set the benchmark this season. We knew we had to win three straight games. To win in Bangalore, we were underdogs. But, we batted well, bowled well and fielded well. In 24 hours, I will be off to the Caribbean. Time to have a beer."
For Sunrisers Hyderabad (SH), winning the Indian Premier League (IPL) title for the first time was like sun rising at midnight, as they beat three-time finalists Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by eight runs in an exciting contest at the Chinnaswamy stadium here on Sunday night.
Winning the toss and putting up a challenging target of 209 for Royals, Hyderabad bowlers showed their mettle by halting RCB's star-studded batting line up at 200 for 7 wickets in 20 overs, though they were plundered by RCB openers Chris Gayle and skipper Virat Kohli, who posted 114 in first 10 overs.
"When Gayle was going great guns, we knew it was difficult to stop him. The hardest thing for us was to maintain composure and have belief in ourselves. We know once he was gone, it would be difficult for the second and the third batsmen to pick up the momentum," Warner said.
Owned by Kalanithi Maran of the Chennai-based Sun television network, Sunrisers replaced Deccan Chargers, whose franchise was terminated by IPL in 2012.
Hailing Warner for leading a talented team to lift the trophy, Sunrisers' head coach Tom Moody said the Aussie southpaw had an enormous influence on the players, as he was a world class cricketer, hard working and very disciplined.
"I enjoy working with him. He has been phenomenal with his batting and an incredible captain, providing leadership and being one step ahead of others. David has been very supportive of his team and backed them fully to give their best," Moody said on the occasion.
Interestingly, Warner is the third Australian cricket player to lift the IPL trophy after Shane Warne did in the opening edition of the IPL in 2008 as captain of the now suspended Rajasthan Royals and Adam Gilchrist as skipper of Deccan Chargers, who beat RCB in the second edition of the IPL at Johannesburg in South Africa in 2009.
