Kane Williamson held his nerves to score an unbeaten half-century as he guided the Sunrisers Hyderabad to victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL 2020 Eliminator. The New Zealand batsman arrived at the crease when SRH had lost their key wicket in David Warner, but Williamson remained unfazed even as he saw SRH lose two quick wickets from the other end.
Williamson, along with Jason Holder (24*) saw off the pressure and built a match-winning partnership for the Sunrisers, eventually winning them the match and securing a place in Qualifier 2, where they face Delhi Capitals.
Williamson was named the Man of the Match. He admitted in the post-match presentation that it wasn't an easy surface to bat on.
"It was a tough game. It was always gonna be against a class side like RCB. With the quality of their batting, restricting them to 132, we bowled well. The surface was a little tricky and chasing anything on it wasn't easy," Williamson said.
"We had time, but with two world class leg spinners it was never going to be easy. We had to try and get through their spells and they didn't give us much at all. It was just nice that we could get through their overs without losing too many wickets."
Williamson arrived at the crease with SRH's score on 43/2 in 5.4 overs. However, he oversaw SRH lose two quick wickets and by the time Jason Holder came to bat, the side was reeling at 67/4 in 11.5 overs.
"You try and do your role as well as you can. Batting at 4, it can vary a lot, and surface dependent. It was nice to spend time and make a contribution, put some partnerships together. It's been an interesting last two weeks for us. [Holder] is cooler than me! He's playing beautifully," Williamson said.
Sunrisers Hyderabad's Qualifier 2 game against Delhi Capitals will be played at the same venue (Abu Dhabi) on November 8 (Sunday).
