The glaring contrast between Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad was their batting approach in their IPL 2021 tie at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday. And SRH skipper David Warner did not mince words in taking full responsibility for the team's go-slow approach with the bat.
Sunrisers lost Jonny Bairstow early in the innings, for just 7 runs. Warner then combined with Manish Pandey to put up a century stand, but the partnership of 106 runs, which comprised half-century scores of both the batters, off 83 balls. SRH did revive from their early blow, but the conservative approach left them with 128 onboard for the loss of just one wicket at the start of the 18th over.
"I take full responsibility for the way I batted, it was really slow, found a lot of fielders and I got frustrated. The way Manish batted was exceptional. Kane got us to a respectable total, but I take full responsibility as it was a total below par. I probably hit 15 good shots to the fielders, I couldn't do much about it. They are the ones that make or break your innings. It gets frustrating as a batsman when you find the fielders. We had 170 on the board but we couldn't take powerplay wickets and it's always tough (to come back) on a good surface like this," said Warner in the post-match presentation.
Kane Williamson, who walked in at No.4 with 17 balls remains, put up a fiery 26 runs off just 10 balls, laced with four boundaries and six. Ably supported by a 4-ball 12 from Kedar Jadhav in the end, SRH amassed 171 for three.
Explaining the strategy behind pushing Williamson down to No.4, Warner said, "He (Kane) was going to bat four no matter what, that's where he bats, that is his job, just that I soaked up too many balls."
Chennai's openers, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis, both of whom as well scored their respective half-centuries, stitched a 129-run stand off 78 balls. Chennai chased the target with nine balls remaining.
"Their two openers batted really well, but we fought well in the end. Felt like you could squeeze a bit after those wickets but they were always ahead in the game," added a disappointed Warner.
SRH remain at the bottom of the table with just one win from six games while Chennai reclaimed the top spot with just one loss from six games.
