Captain Suresh Raina lamented the lack of good bowlers in his side after Gujarat Lions lost their last league stage match of IPL 10 without qualifying for play-offs.
We don’t have those good experienced bowlers, credit to other teams who executed their plans really well. This year was a learning point. Thanks to all the Gujarat fans, Kanpur has always been good for us. It’s a disappointing season. The ground staff work so hard in the heat. We didn’t bat well.
Australian opener and Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner, on 13 May, praised India’s abundant bowling talent, especially in the shorter formats, after the domestic bowlers played a key role in his side sealing a berth in the IPL play-offs.
Man-of-the-match Mohammed Siraj took four wickets for 32 runs while Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Siddarth Kaul returned with figures of 2/25 and 1/30 respectively as the Sunrisers bowlers effected a collapse of the Gujarat Lions batting line-up.
Afghan leg-spinner Rashid Khan also played a big role with his figures of 3/43 as the Lions, who were asked to bat first, were bowled out for 154 in 19.2 overs after a 111-run opening stand between Ishan Kishan (61 off 40 balls) and Dwayne Smith (54 off 33 balls).
Would have been (a shame if Sunrisers didn’t make it). They (the Lions) got to a flier, I was scratching my head there for a second. When we got wickets back to back, it showed the wicket was slowing a bit.David Warner
He added:
There is some fantastic bowling units around in the country. It shows what talent you have here, especially in the T20s and ODIs.
Warner, who carried his way through the innings with an unbeaten 69 to anchor his side's successful run chase, said there was a bit of pressure on his side to make it to the play-offs.
“It’s about not worrying about the next couple of games, take each game as it comes. Keep backing our skills,” said Warner.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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