Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Pat Cummins heaped praise on Eshan Malinga, stating that the Sri Lankan bowler has been an asset for them after their six-wicket win against Lucknow Super Giants at Lucknow on Monday. 

LSG was looking all set to post more than 220 after their openers – Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram – added 115 runs for the opening stand. However, SRH bowlers bounced back strongly, and Malinga played a key role in keeping LSG at bay.

Malinga returned with impressive figures of 2-28 in his quota of four overs, accounting for LSG captain Rishabh Pant and Ayush Badoni.

Cummins said after the win, “We conceded a few more than we would have liked, it is a good wicket but we were confident about the chase. Eshan Malinga has been great and huge asset for us as a team. His execution has been really good. At times, when they are at their best, it doesn’t look like they are taking too many risks. We know we are a good side when we play our best. Few lessons to learn.”

On the other hand, Abhishek Sharma scored a whirlwind knock of 59 runs off just 20 balls to put his team in the driver’s seat in the run chase of 206. 

Sharma said after bagging the Player of the Match award, “I spoke to Rathi after the game and it is all good now. If we batted first, I might have had other plans but chasing such a total we had a clear plan. If you ask any player who has been doing well for the team, chasing 200 plus something you should be able to win the powerplay. I wanted to express myself and if I do well, I know the team is gonna do well as well. It was the same plan I had in international cricket as well. Just express myself and knock it around.”

Sunrisers Hyderabad will next take on Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on Friday.