IPL: We struggled to adapt, says Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Kane Williamson
After suffering a six-goal defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Kane Williamson said the pitch was difficult and the new ball was lying on the surface, which made scoring quite difficult.
Shubman Gill played a knock of 57 runs as KKR defeated SRH by six wickets in a last-over finish. With this win, KKR consolidated its position at the fourth spot and now have 12 points from 13 games.
“It was a challenging surface, it was hard to get your rhythm on because of the tennis-ball bounce. Particularly with the new ball, it sat on the surface and I think it reflected in the low strike rates which have been quite interesting in the second half of the tournament,” said Williamson while replying to an ANI query during a virtual post-match press conference.”
The surfaces have varied quite a lot and I think we have seen that teams that have been successful have been able to adapt to those surfaces.
“For us against KKR, we struggled to do that. We got through the powerplay and there was an opportunity to build towards 140-150 total and obviously, we fell short of that. Once again, it is important for us not to overreact and overcorrect. It has definitely been a challenging season for us in that aspect,” he added.
Earlier, a spirited bowling performance helped KKR restrict SRH to 115/8 in the allotted twenty overs. For the Eoin Morgan-led side, Tim Southee, Shivam Mavi and Varun Chakravarthy returned with two wickets each while for SRH, Williamson top-scored with a knock of 26 runs.
“I suppose personally, standing in as skipper in the second half of the tournament, you do try to have a collective focus. There are a number of things around the corner that can take the attention of the players, but you know (that) as a team, we are fortunate enough to be here,” said Williamson.
SRH will next lock horns against RCB on Wednesday at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.
