Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Punjab Kings handsomely on Wednesday, but the skipper Warner has expressed his displeasure with the Chepauk pitch.
Sunrisers Hyderabad finally opened their account on the points table after losing the first three games as they beat Punjab Kings without a sweat. SRH tasted the victory by nine wickets in a low-scoring affair. The pitches at Chepauk have been under the pump for being extremely difficult to bat on and have already witnessed multiple collapses.
SRH used the conditions to their advantage by taking the pace off consistently and were able to bowl out PBKS for 120. SRH bowlers were right on the money with their line and lengths and with the pace. Abhishek Sharma was impressive in his four overs, taking 2 for 24, while Khaleel Ahmed continued where he left off in the previous game, picking up 3 for 21 in his four. In response, they chased down the target in 18.4 overs with nine wickets to spare. The openers, Warner and Bairstow, put on a 73-run partnership. Jonny Bairstow anchored the chase with his 63 off 56 deliveries.
Warner came hard at the pitches after the match, branding it as ‘shocking’ and defended the curators considering the amount of cricket that took place at the venue in recent times. M. A. Chidambaram Stadium has hosted two consecutive Tests in February during England’s tour of India and the initial leg of IPL 2021.
“To be honest, it’s shocking. It looks horrible on TV but you have to give credit to the curators. They have had a lot of cricket here so it’s very very difficult for them to get this wicket up and about. Since I’ve started playing in Chennai it’s always been there but it’s very difficult for them,”
Warner said after the game.
Warner was also quick to admit that although the pitches are not ideal for T20 cricket, we can’t criticise the curators much as they have a very challenging job. It’s up to the players to adapt to the conditions as professionals.
“It’s not their (curators) fault that the wicket is like this. You had the Indian Test series against England and the same thing in Australia we had a lot of games on the same pitches so the curators have got a very difficult job. As players we know what we have to do, there are no excuses. It’s not ideal but at the end of the day we are grateful to go out there and play on these wickets because it’s very challenging for them, they don’t have any rest. We have to be professionals and adapt,”
Warner added.
David Warner also indicated that the pacer T Natarajan could be out of action for a while. A knee injury forced Natarajan to miss the last two games with Khaleel Ahmed replacing him. But with the strict bio-bubble protocols, it’s hard to go out and get the scans done to assess his situation better.
“He obviously has a sore knee. Given the circumstances in these bubbles, if he goes and gets a scan, he obviously has to sit out for 7 days and get back into quarantine, so we are just monitoring at the moment. The physios are doing their best to analyse but he obviously has to have a scan at some point.”
Warner stated.
SRH will next take on Delhi Capitals at the Chepauk Stadium on April 25 before moving to their Delhi leg, where they will play four matches. The conditions should ideally suit the playing style of SRH.
