‘We Have To Go Harder At The Top’: Warner After Loss to Kolkata

Watch video: David Warner speaks to the media after Hyderabad lose to Kolkata.

(Photo: BCCI/IPL)

SunRrisers Hyderabad (SRH) captain David Warner said that the team needs to increase the frequency of their boundaries and sixes after they sunk to a seven-wicket loss to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Saturday. SRH have thus started their 2020 campaign in the IPL with consecutive defeats.

"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," said Warner on Star Sports after the match played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

"You can see from our running between the wickets, we 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. We just mis-executed in the middle."

The skipper opened with Jonny Bairstow but their partnership lasted just 24 runs before Cummins got the Englishman’s wicket. Warner went onto score 36 off 30 before being caught and bowled by Varun Chakravarthy. While speaking to the media in the post-match press conference the skipper said he took full responsibility for getting out early and not batting out the 20 overs.

‘It was a very soft and poor dismissal for myself. I don’t blame anyone. I take full responsibility, for myself, for not batting out the overs and getting a soft dismissal,’ Warner said.

Warner had chosen to bat first after winning the toss, the first captain to do so this year. SRH only managed to score 142 runs despite losing only four wickets in 20 overs but Warner said that he sticks by his decision at the toss.

"For us, our strength is death bowling. I thought it was actually a difficult wicket to accelerate on. 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," he said.

"Pat Cummins, as he does, (bowled) Test match line and length. There was a little bit of movement here and there. All in all, it got harder through the middle. We went four or five overs for 20 and coming back with three wickets in hand at the end probably killed us a little bit there. An extra 30 or 40 runs would have been great," said Warner.

(With inputs from IANS)