Sunrisers Hyderabad mentor VVS laxman on Monday described their loss against Royals Challengers Hyderabad as “disappointing” and said it was the “phenomenal” knock by AB de Villiers which took the game away from them during their IPl match here.
“It was disappointing loss for Hyderabad as the team was dominating most part of the game, but one special innings from one player took the game away from them,” laxman told reporters here.
“I think it was one of the best innings I could see in T20 format because AB displayed phenomenal batting skills while wickets were falling at the other end,” he added.
De Villiers produced one of the most devastating Twenty20 innings last night as he smashed an unbeaten 89 from just 42 balls in RCB’s dramatic four-wicket win over Hyderabad. laxman said Hyderabad were ten runs short as Mitchell Starc bowled a beautiful last over, restricting Hyderabad to 155 runs. “We were ten runs short. Starc bowled a brilliant last over. David Warner was out in the third delivery. I thought 155 was defendable total because of the bowling strength we got,” he added.
Asked if the team led by Shikhar Dhawan had plans for De Villiers, laxman said: “As a captain you stick to your plan and back your bowlers.”
However, for batsmen like Chris Gayle and De Villiers, nobody can set fields for them as they have the ability to hit even good balls, laxman said. “Special batsmen like AB and Chris Gayle — even if bowlers are bowling well, they can get boundaries and sixes which we saw yesterday - especially of Dale Steyn. They weren’t bad deliveries - they were excellent shots under pressure,” he said.
Asked about Amit Mishra’s omission, laxman said his team went with the right combination looking at the opposition strength and playing conditions.
“Mishra is a top class bowler but we went into the match considering opposition’s strength and playing conditions. They (RCB) had five powerful left-handers who are good strikers of the ball. That is the reason why we didn’t have Mishy,” he reasoned.
“Young Karn Sharma bowled brilliantly to left-hand batsmen,” laxman added.
Replying to a query, laxman said he was enjoying his stint as a mentor.
“I am really enjoying the mentor’s role where you share your experiences with the cricketers. Being involved in the game and contributing back to the game, which is phenomenal, and I am happy to do that,” he said.
Karn rues drop catch
Karn Sharma was the star for Sunrisers with the ball against RCB but the leg-spinner rues the ‘tough’ drop chance of de Villiers as he feels the wicket could have titled the match in his side’s favour.
The South African batsman got a reprieve when he was on 30 as Karn dropped a tough chance at backward point off Irfan Pathan’s bowling. “If I had held on to that catch, maybe the game could have swung in our favour. But it is part and parcel of the game; at times you hold on to those and sometimes they don’t stick to your hands,” said Karn, who registered impressive figures of three for 17 from his four overs against RCB.
For Karn it was his “best performance” this season and the wickets of Chris Gayle, Rilee Rossouw and Yuvraj Singh made it more special. “I am happy with my performance but a bit disappointed that we couldn’t win the game. We had done well throughout the game but just lost our way at the end,” he told IPl’s official website.
“This is my best bowling performance this year. I got three big wickets for the side. My aim was to put them under pressure and not give too many easy runs.”
With just two wins out of six games, the Sunrisers have lot of work to do but Karn believes the Hyderabad outfit is still in the fray. “Our hopes are still alive in the tournament. Our goal will be to play the remainder of the matches well, not to make the mistakes we did in this game and hopefully turn the results in our favour,” he said.
AB is a freak man: Harshal
A witness to de Villiers’ exploits from close quarters, young RCB pacer Harshal Patel termed his South African team-mate as a “freak man” who is difficult to bowl at.
“What do I say! AB is a freak, man. What he can do on the cricket field, I don’t think anyone else can do that. I have no words to describe his brilliance,” said Patel, who was at the other end batting with de Villiers in the final over.
“I think he is the most difficult batsman to bowl to. To good batsmen, if you bowl decent yorkers or good deliveries, you can get away. But to AB, if you bowl a perfect yorker, you can still go for six. You are never sure where to bowl to him. You can only bowl and hope for the best,” he told IPl’s official website.
Patel said he didn’t feel the pressure while coming out to bat in the final over after Mitchell Starc’s dismissal. “To be very honest, I was surprised myself that I was under no pressure. AB was batting so well at the other end, I just had to get a single and get him on strike. All that AB told me in that last over was to be balanced and watch the ball and look for a single and run hard. I was pretty confident that once AB got the strike, the game will be over,” Patel said.
Patel said he is benefiting a lot from RCB’s bowling coach Allan Donald. “I think more than any technical aspects we talk about the mental aspect and the attitude towards a game. He always emphasises on being aggressive on the field and asks us never to take a backward step even if we bowlers go for runs,” he said.