IPL 2020: I do not regret my decision to bat first, says David Warner

SRH skipper David Warner firmly stood by his decision to bat first and said that the batsmen had to step up
SRH skipper David Warner firmly stood by his decision to bat first and said that the batsmen had to step up

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) skipper David Warner said that he does not regret the decision of batting first against the Kolkata Knight Riders. SRH elected to bat first after winning the toss and could only post a total of 142, which was easily chased down by KKR with 7 wickets in hand.

As the dew factor was expected to come into play in the second innings, a few eyebrows were raised when Warner decided to bat first rather than put KKR in first. However, the SRH skipper said after the game that he backed the strength of his side which was their death bowling.

"I think I got my decision right. For us, our strength is death bowling. The Kolkata boys showed us that if you can keep wickets at the end, that's what wins you games. I don't regret what I did at the beginning of the game and I stick by my decision," David Warner said after the game.

We have to try and go harder at the top: David Warner

David Warner also believes that SRH top order need to make the most of the powerplay restrictions
David Warner also believes that SRH top order need to make the most of the powerplay restrictions

SRH never really got any kind of momentum in their innings and kept on losing wickets just when they looked likely to string together a solid partnership.

There were too many dot balls in the innings, something that Warner believes has to change. He also is of the opinion that the batsmen will have to go harder at the top of the order and take advantage of the fielding restrictions.

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"We have to try and go harder at the top. Can't help if the bowlers are bowling good lines and lengths. We need to push as hard as we can. You can see from our running between the wickets, we do do that. But, we got to improve our boundary percentage. I saw, I think 35 dot balls, which not acceptable in T20 cricket on a wicket that was actually nice to bat on," David Warner asserted.

A lot will now depend on how SRH openers Warner and Jonny Bairstow go about their business if they want to succeed as a team. With a weak middle order that failed to fire in both their games so far, SRH will have to find a way to include Kane Williamson in their XI and bolster their batting.

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