Gujarat Titans’ bowlers led by Kagiso Rabada shot out Sunrisers Hyderabad for 86 in 14.5 overs to go top of the points table with an 82-run win in an IPL match on Tuesday.
Rabada returned figures of 3 for 28 and said bowling Test-match lengths wit patience worked in his favour. He was well supported by Jason Holder, who returned impressive figures of 3 for 20 as the Titans defended 168 successfully on a tricky wicket in Ahmedabad.
“Season in, season out, all you try to do is do the best you can. I have been backed and it has been clear what my role has been: leave everything out for the team. Rhythm is everything,” Rabada told the broadcaster after the match.
“100 per cent,” he replied when asked if Test match length was the right approach with the ball.
“They showed how to bowl on it and we tried to follow suit. Wicket got a little more sticky and patience and simplicity worked,” he added.
Talking about his bowling partnerships with the other pacers, Rabada said the key is to understand the nature of the wicket and bowling to one’s strength.
“(It is) about bowling as much as I can but also preserving myself to be match ready. Need to find a way to somehow click, (it is) just about finding out the kind of pitch we are playing on and bowling accordingly,” he said.
“We each have our own natural attributes, and it is about seeing how much you can extract, without looking too far ahead. If your strength is not working out, then you can look at something else,” the Proteas pacer added.
Gujarat Titans skipper Shubman Gill said his side does not believe in playing a particular brand of cricket but prefers adapting to the conditions on offer.
“We bowled very well. We knew if we bowled well, we would always be in the game. We spoke about if we get anywhere near 160-170, it will not be easy for them with our bowling attack. The way Sai and Washy batted, getting us close to 170,” he said.
“The way we bowled in the powerplay, kudos to both of our bowlers. It is all about being consistent and being ruthless. We are not a team who play a particular style and brand, and assess the conditions,” Gill also said.
SRH captain Pat Cummins is not too concerned about his side’s batting performance, and backed the batters to do well in the upcoming games.
“(We were) pretty happy when we walked off, it was a tricky wicket, they bowled well. Try to look for ways to get through that spell maybe. Looked like a tough wicket when you hit that back of a length,” he said.
“Maybe we could have held our lengths a little longer. But that is as good a T20 bowling (performance) as you can see from them. Our batting has been fantastic, so not reading too much into that,” Cummins added.
Cummins urged SRH to put this huge defeat behind and move on. “This happens in T20 cricket. We (now) go to venues we know well, so we take confidence from that. We won five or six (matches) and that gives a bit of breathing room, so going back to what got us those wins and putting this behind quickly,” said Cummins.
