IPL 2018: Rashid Khan Is A World Class Player: Kane Williamson

Kane Williamson, on Sunday (May 27), lavished praise on his Sunrisers Hyderabad teammate Rashid Khan. The leg-spinner finished this year’s Indian Premier League as the second leading wicket-taker with 21 wickets to his name. Rashid’s 21-wicket tally is the most by any spinner this season and the most by a leg-spinner in the history of the league.

The 19-year old’s next challenge is the upcoming historic Test match against India. It will be Afghanistan’s first-ever Test and will be held in Bangalore from June 14. Williamson is confident Rashid would do well with the red ball too.

“He’s a world class player. We’ve seen that in this format but it’s great that he’s going to be play some Test cricket and I think is a challenge for anyone but an enjoyable challenge because he’s up there with the top spinners in the game,” Williamson said at the post-match press conference.

“It’s always a pleasure to face him at the nets and against him as well in the near future. If the wicket’s responding, like any spinner that offers him a bit more. The full package (of) Rashid is great to have in the side,” he added.

Meanwhile, it was a Sunday to forget for the Sunrisers. Chennai Super Kings blew them away in what otherwise was anticipated to be a close final. The MS Dhoni-led side thrashed the Williamson-led side by 8 wickets to win the title. It looked like the game would be close a one after the Sunrisers posted 178 for 6.

With their bowling lineup in great form, the score was enough to make a good contest. The Sunrisers also started well with the ball as Super Kings were 20 for 1 after 5 overs. However, the Super Kings eventually reached the target with nine balls to spare. The architect of the win was Shane Watson. The 36-year old, who took 11 balls to open his account, slammed a 57-ball 117 to bring up his second century of this IPL. His knock was studded with 11 fours and 8 sixes as he single-handedly made all the difference.

“At the halfway stage on the surface, we thought we had a very competitive total. It wasn’t perhaps your usual surface at the Wankhede and it held a little bit and was responsive to the slower ball. So we thought that 180-mark was a really good target,” said Williamson.

“I think from that point onwards, that innings of Shane Watson got them to play and anyone who turns out with an innings of 100-plus in the final, it was obviously a significant effort and great contribution to their side and very difficult to stop, so a fantastic knock,” he added.

Williamson also didn’t want to cite fatigue as a factor behind the loss. The Sunrisers had to fly all the way to Kolkata, play the second qualifier against Kolkata Knight Riders and head back to Mumbai for the final within a span of just three days.

“I suppose it gave us the opportunity after losing a semifinal to them and get back in the final. It required a fairly long flight to Kolkata, but that’s the nature of it. Whether it’s fair or whether it’s a good thing to do to play an extra game, and may be have some momentum, we couldn’t really know. I guess, it was nice to have that opportunity to still make it to the final, which we were able to do,” he said.