Chennai: Lauding Chennai Super Kings opener Brendon McCullum's unbeaten 100 in his side's second consecutive win in IPL-8, SunRisers Hyderabad mentor VVS Laxman on Saturday said the New Zealender's first ton of the season was a "special innings".
Riding on McCullum's 56-ball knock and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's 29-ball 53, CSK posted a mammoth 209 for four in 20 and then restricted SunRisers Hyderabad to 164 for six in their 45-run triumph.
"I think it was a special innings especially in the manner in which he hit Boult (Trent) for a six in the last over. It was a very good ball but Brendon put it away for a six. I think the bowlers did not get the desired rhythm and also credit to the CSK batsmen to put pressure on the bowlers," Laxman said after the team's loss.
The stylish Hyderabadi batsman also did not forget to mention 'Captain Cool's' knock, which was laced with 4 fours and 4 sixes.
"Even MS (Dhoni), when he came in he put pressure on Karn Sharma in one over. He never allowed bowlers to get in to their rhythm. Except for Trent and Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar) to some extent, our bowlers were not in the best of rhythm. We cannot go by the set standards. Because Ishant (Sharma) was not finding his rhythm, Warner decided to bowl Bopara (Ravi) in the death," he said.
For SRH, skipper David Warner tried hard to get behind the mammoth chase with a fighting 53 off 42 deliveries but after the Australia left-handers departure the team was left playing catch-up. Even Laxman opined that Warner's wicket was key.
"When you chase an important total you should have some wickets in hand and one of the set batsmen to play till the end. Warner was that batsmen for us but it was a brilliant catch which got him out.
"Even though we got good start from Shikhar and warner we lost the momentum a bit with Rahul (Lokesh) and Naman (Ojha) getting out. I think it was a fantastic wicket to bat on. Till Warner was there we thought we were with a chance. Ravi Bopara played a cameo but unfortunately we lost too many wickets," Laxman said.
