Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals may not have a good news before the seasons game started. Both the team captains Kane Williamson and Ajinkya Rahane suffered huge blow for the ball tampering case and were banned from the future games for a year. This left both the teams to choose alternative skippers. Hyderabad pulled off a clinical start last night with Williamson leading the team from the front against Rajasthan Royals who made a comeback after two years ban.
Royals failed to give a fight and it was a one-sided game won by the 2016 IPL champions. Reason being lack of good batting and bowling display and the opener Dhawan scoring an unbeaten 77 for the team. Williamson too supported his innings with 36 runs of his bat on the evening.
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“It was a great opportunity,” said Williamson after the match “Feel fortunate to be able to do it. Saying that, obviously, David is a huge part of this team and is a fantastic performer (and) has led the team superbly well. There are some changes this year but it was nice to come out and play really well as a team. It’s important we improve and build on our performance for the next game.”
It’s nothing new for New Zealand captain as he is one of the best T20 players in international business now. Things would have been different if Warner would have captained. Williamson would have found it tough to make it to the side but the turn of events made him the captain.
“Obviously it happened very quickly,” he added. “As things unfolded, we were sort of in contact a little bit. And having been at the franchise for a little while, it was a privilege to get asked. Fortunate to have a really good bunch of people to work with. Look it’s been a pretty quick period, we’ve had 3-4 days together, but the guys have been really good and it was nice to come out today and play well as a unit, work hard in the field and I think that’s a key attribute to the performance today.”
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Williamson’s captaincy shone through as he restricted the Royals on 125 runs and perfectly blended his platter of bowlers. He said that such decisions come random and might or might not work sometimes but he hopes he can make best of the team in upcoming matches. He also feels Warner’s loss for the team is huge and the team should balance well now.
