It is a game of fine margins, could have gone either way: Williamson

With 35 runs required off 12 deliveries, there would have been a breathing space for the Sunrisers bowlers against any opposition but Gujarat Titans. This season, the Titans have made it a living habit to win games from improbable situations, including the one against Hyderabad on Wednesday. 

Against two of Sunrisers’ best bowlers of the tournament, Marco Jansen and T Natarajan, the duo of Rashid Khan and Rahul Tewatia did the unthinkable. The duo took 13 runs off the Indian left-arm seamer’s over before plummeting the South African all-rounder for 25 runs. 

In the post-match presentation, losing skipper Kane Williamson admitted that it was a game of fine margins and the result could have gone either way. 

“It was a fantastic game of cricket that ebbed and flowed throughout the 40 overs, it's a game of very fine margins. Could have gone either ways, but a great learning for us. Another strong performance at the top of the table though,” Williamson said at the post-match. 

Williamson credited the knock from Shashank Singh, who in his first innings scored 25 runs off just six balls. The Kiwi batter also applauded the efforts of Umran Malik, who finished with figures of 5/25. 

“It was a fantastic finish by Shashank Singh, he played beautifully. Credit to Gujarat as they played outstandingly well, we'll take positives out of this game. He (Malik) has been bowling beautifully, an outstanding performance by him. If you are not on the money, the ball can fly anywhere,” he added.

Despite being on the receiving end, the SRH skipper credited Rashid Khan for some sublime hitting towards the end of the innings. However, Williamson backed the South African all-rounder Jansen to make a comeback in the next game. 

“He (Rashid) has done it already in this tournament, and he has done it again. There's a lot of learning for us, but with two strong sides such things happen. He (Jansen) will bounce back nicely, there have been a number of games like these. Sometimes you are blown away by the better side, credit to them (Gujarat) as they played outstandingly well,” he concluded.