David Warner: We knew we had to get 200 against these guys
Image Courtesy: IPLT20
After winning the final against RCB, that too at the Chinnaswamy, David Warner singled out their team putting up the 200+ total as the key behind the victory. Warner had opted to bat after winning the toss in a surprising decision but backed it up with an innings that laid the ground for the win.
"We knew we had to get 200 against these guys, they have a phenomenal batting line-up," Warner said.
"We knew we had to win three games to win this tournament. To come here and beat Bangalore in front of this crowd, we were true underdogs. But we executed our skills, we batted well, bowled well, and fielded well. For us, the key was team effort all the way. [Time to put my feet up] for 24 hours and then I'm off to the Caribbean. But the guys will well and truly celebrate this and it's time to have a beer.
"[It's a] fantastic team achievement and for me personally it's overwhelming. To lead this side and the support these players gave me to lead by example and me pulling my weight with the runs…Obviously all the other guys doing their job. But look, it's been fantastic, it's been a hard journey for the last two years. From my experience as captain, the credit goes to all the guys,” said Warner reported cricinfo.
"You need to get a lot of individual players to step up, players need to gel together and get the combinations right. For us the key was to try and emulate with our fielding, that part towards the end here."
Warner also took time to praise losing captain Virat Kohli, who along with Chris Gayle had looked to take the trophy away from SRH with a whirlwind opening stand. But Kohli's dismissal proved to be the end of the RCB charge, and they never threatened after that.
"What a leader, Virat Kohli," Warner said. "I can't take it away from him. He set the benchmark for all batsmen this tournament and they are a fantastic team."
SRH's victory has been the result of a fine team effort with both bowlers and batsmen pulling their weight all through. While Mustafizur has been the revelation, another bowler who has showed his mettle this season has been Bhuvneshwar Kumar. From being only a swing bowler, Bhuvi has matured into a much more versatile bowler and has led the SRH attack admirably bowling both at the opening and at the death. Speaking about his performance, Bhuvi said, "I just had to keep myself composed in the end.
"I knew if I would get it right, they wouldn't be able to score runs. That's the demand of this game…If you get the yorkers right it's the best way to stop the runs in the death overs. Warner just said to keep my yorkers right, he asked me to keep myself composed."
(Also, relive the best moments of the 2016 IPL final in pictures)
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