23 April,2016 07:58 AM IST | | Haresh Pandya
What a big win over a major opponent can do to a team’s confidence and morale could be seen from Sunrisers Hyderabad’s performance against Gujarat Lions in Rajkot on Thursday.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Rajkot: What a big win over a major opponent can do to a team's confidence and morale could be seen from Sunrisers Hyderabad's performance against Gujarat Lions in Rajkot on Thursday.
SRH's Bhuvneshwar Kumar celebrates the wicket of Gujarat Lions' opener Aaron Finch in Rajkot on Thursday. Pic/AFP
Still basking in the glory of their famous triumph (by seven wickets with 15 balls to spare) against Mumbai Indians on Monday, they defeated the Lions by 10 wickets in their own den with 5.1 overs to spare.
A much-needed win
"The victory against Mumbai Indians was a turning point of sorts for us. We badly needed to come back after two defeats in our first two games. It recharged our batteries," said Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who bowled the in-form opener Aaron Finch, the architect of Lions' three wins in a row before the Thursday's humiliation, for a duck and finished with 4-29.
"We were confident of putting up a fine performance against Gujarat Lions too. We were delighted to see the back of Finch, who has been in great form, and were determined to restrict them to a low score. It was neither a difficult wicket nor a bad one. But we bowled a good line and length, kept the pressure on and waited for the batsmen to make mistakes or mistime their shots," he added.
