"It Frustrated Virat Kohli": David Warner Opens Up On Century-Stand With Jonny Bairstow Against RCB

Jonny Bairstow and David Warner were in fine touch in the IPL 2019. The opening pair made life difficult for the oppositions with their fiery batting approach. Bairstow and Warner raked up 791 runs for SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the previous edition of the IPL which included four century stands. One such stand came against Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Hyderabad.

Bairstow (114) and Warner (100) hit a century each to forge a 185-run stand for the opening wicket as the SunRisers Hyderabad went on to post a daunting total of 231/2 in the stipulated 20 overs. In a chat with premier commentator Harsha Bhogle, Warner opened up about his partnership with Bairstow.

David Warner: It was frustrating the crap out of Virat Kohli

Warner and Bairstow were easing in their approach as it looked like they were scoring for fun. The duo also converted single into doubles and Virat Kohli was at the receiving end of it. It left Kohli infuriated, said Warner in the interaction. He also said, he never played against or Bairstow a lot, but they knew each other’s game and combined well to damage the oppositions.

“It was really bizarre because me and Jonny, we’ve never played with each other or against each other. We didn’t really know each other off the field. But as soon as we had the first net session and the first hit out, it was almost like we knew each other’s game so well. The best thing about our combination, that I knew deep down, was how fast we are between wickets,” Warner told Harsha Bhogle on Cricbuzz in Conversation.

“We just knew that if we bat the way we did in the first six – like we normally do – and then once the field goes out, we can pinch the odd one or two. If we can rotate strike, it’s going to frustrate a lot of people. I look back at the RCB game, I think (there were) 21 or 22 twos (during the partnership). It was frustrating the crap out of Virat. When Virat went out to field at midwicket, we were running twos to him. The thing is, when you’ve got that instinct anyone can do that. When you’re batting so well with someone, and gel well, you can turn ones into twos quite easily.”