Would have been a shame if Sunrisers didn't qualify, says Warner

After powering Sunrisers Hyderabad to the Indian Premier League (IPL) play-offs, skipper David Warner said it would be a "shame" if the defending champions failed to make it to the top four.

Warner scored a 52-ball unbeaten 69 and was well complimented by young Vijay Shankar's 44-ball unbeaten 63 to lift the visiting side to the second spot in the IPL standings, with 17 points from 14 games.

Crediting his bowlers for bringing Hyderabad back into the match after the Gujarat got off to a flying start, thanks to Ishan Kishan and Dwayne Smith's 111-run stand, Warner said this shows India's rich pool of talent in the fast bowling department.

"It would have been a shame if Sunrisers didn't make it," Warner said in the post-match presentation.

"They got a flier, I was scratching my head there for a second. When we got wickets back to back, it showed the wicket was slowing a bit. Credit to the bowlers, (Mohammed) Siraj, the way they brought it back was fantastic.

"Some fantastic bowling units around in the country. Shows what talent you have here, especially in the T20s and ODIs," he added.

Commenting on the pressure they were in after Praveen Kumar reduced Hyderabad to 25/2 with the quick wickets of Shikhar Dhawan and Moises Henriques, the hard-hitting Warner said: "We got a little bit of luck, trying to bat with each other. A bit of pressure on us to make that top four, but we knew two quick wickets isn't worrying."

"It's about not worrying about the next couple of games, take each game as it comes. Keep backing our skills," he added.

Man-of-the-match Mohammed Siraj, who returned with figures of 4/32, said it was the advice from his senior partner Bhuvneshwar Kumar, which helped him slower down his pace.

"In a pressure match, I got the man-of-the-match. The wicket was slow, that's why had to take pace off the ball. Bhuvi bhai tells me what to bowl," he said.

So far, Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians are the only teams to have qualifed for the play-offs. Kolkata Knight Riders, Rising Pune Supergiant and Kings XI Punjab will now battle it out for the other two spots.

--IANS

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