Hyderabad [India], Apr 18 : Indian seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who bagged a five-wicket haul to guide Sunrisers Hyderabad to a narrow five-run win over Kings XI Punjab, has said that his team are known for good bowling strength and defending low totals and they proved the same by emerging out as victorious in their IPL clash here last evening.
Put in to bat first, Sunrisers Hyderabad posted a target of 160 runs, thanks to unbeaten 70-run knock by opener and skipper David Warner.
In reply, the hosts' bowling attack bundled out the Punjab-based team to 154 runs despite some brilliant performance by Manish Vohra, who was the top-scorer for the side with his 95-run knock.
Bhuvneshwar, who finished with career-best figures of 5 for 19, was the pick of the bowlers for Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Had it not been for Bhuvneshwar, Sunrisers would have almost certainly suffered defeat. Besides the Indian seamer, Afghanistan's Rashid Khan also scalped two wickets while Mohammad Nabi, Siddarth Kaul and Moises Henriques chipped in with a wicket each.
And Bhuvneshwar admitted that it was a satisfying performance personally and by the entire bowling unit.
"I did end up getting five wickets, but I won't take credit for the win. Everyone pitched in with good performances and was instrumental in tonight's win," ESPNcricinfo quoted Bhuvneshwar while speaking to iplt20.com "In such thrilling contests, you do worry about fielding well and hope for the catches to stick.
The wicket was not easy to bat on but David Warner played an outstanding innings and later Rashid hit a six in the last over, which was almost like game-changing for us," he added.
Reflecting on his penultimate over in which he gave away just five runs and clinched two wickets, Bhuvneshwar said he was ready for the challenge.
"There wasn't much pressure on me because I have bowled in such situations in the past. I was mentally prepared to bowl the second last over and I had a clear plan when I ran to bowl," he said.
Bhuvneshwar admitted that although Vohra almost took the game from his side, he just focused on sticking to his plans and backing his strength.
"Vohra almost took the game away from us but I knew what I had to do while bowling to him. It worked well and thankfully we ended up with a win. Sunrisers are known for their bowling strength and defending low totals. Tonight was just an example of that and it was a complete team effort," he said of Vohra, who was his fifth wicket.
Sunrisers Hyderabad, standing third in the points table, will now take Delhi Daredevils at the same venue tomorrow.
Source: ANI
