IPL 2019: Kane Williamson Explains Why He Gave 18th Over to Basil Thampi?

Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Kane Williamson had to face the criticism of the analysts as well as the fans after he gave the 18th over of the innings to Basil Thampi. It turned out to the turning point of the match as Delhi Capitals scored 22 runs off that over. Rishabh Pant was able to take Thampi to the cleaners as he got 20 runs of the first four balls with the help of two sixes and as many fours.

However, Khaleel Ahmed had scalped two wickets in the 11th over of the innings and many believed that giving that over to Ahmed would have been a better choice as he was the bowler in form. On the other hand, Kane Williamson who is known for his shrewd captaincy stated that the idea was to take the ball away from the left-hander with the help of cutters.

We wanted to take the ball away from the left-hander – Kane Williamson

But much to Sunrisers Hyderabad and Williamson’s disappointment, Thampi could not execute his skills against the rampant Rishabh Pant, who was going all guns blazing.

“Basically, with that [longer] side, we felt that the right arm option the cutters going away from the left-hander was our best bet,” he said. “But Rishabh is a fantastic player and we were put under pressure and we didn’t quite execute our skills,” Williamson said after the defeat.

On the other hand, Sunrisers Hyderabad had posted 162 runs in their batting innings after been put into bat by Shreyas Iyer. Kane Williamson added that he thought it was a competitive score after Vijay Shankar and Mohammed Nabi added the finishing touches. However, Rishabh Pant’s innings turned out to be the difference between the two sides.

“It was one of those surfaces that produce such close matches. I believed we had a competitive total after the first half. I knew it would be a tricky chase after the powerplay overs as with such totals there are small margins,” Kane Williamson said.

Sunrisers Hyderabad could not come up with a complete performance. In fact, the Orange Army was not up to the mark in the league stages of the tournament as they won only six matches to get to 12 points. In fact, they became the first side to qualify for the last four with only 12 points.