Sunrisers Hyderabad's (SRH) veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar credited teammate T Natarajan for his excellent bowling performance in their convincing win over Delhi Capitals (DC) in the IPL 2024 match on April 20. Kumar acknowledged Natarajan's significant contributions to SRH's success, despite sometimes going unnoticed. Earlier, SRH batsmen, including Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, and Shahbaz Ahmed, had set a high score of 267 runs. Natarajan's impressive bowling spell of 4 wickets for just 19 runs further restricted DC's chase at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, their home ground.
Despite a flying start by DC openers Jake Fraser-McGurk (65 off 18 balls) and Abhishek Porel (42 off 22 balls), the SRH bowlers clawed their way back into the match. DC's middle order faltered badly, collapsing from a promising 135/4 in the 9th over to being all out for 199. SRH's T Natarajan was the star with a career-best IPL spell of 4/19, effectively shutting down any hopes of a DC comeback.
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Bhuvneshwar Kumar in awe of T Natarajan
Bhuvneshwar Kumar didn't forget to credit teammate T Natarajan for his role in SRH's dominant victory.
"(Rate that bowling performance) When defending those many runs, you either go for plenty or you get wickets. We accepted that we'll go for plenty of runs when defending those many runs, but the plan was to keep executing. (Own form) Feeling good. Not among the wickets but the way I want to execute it is happening. Just a matter of time. (Natarajan's season) Amazing. We know how good he is at yorkers. He keeps working hard, silent guy, goes unnoticed a lot. We know how important he is for Sunrisers.
SRH's star pacer jokingly complained that the team's batsmen are making things easy for the bowlers by consistently putting up massive scores in IPL 2024. He playfully expressed concern that the bowlers might feel the pressure if the batting falters. His comment came after the SRH top order's exceptional form. They've already notched three scores exceeding 250 runs this season, including a record-breaking 277 against Mumbai Indians, surpassing Royal Challengers Bangalore's previous IPL record of 263.
"(SRH's batting in 2024 - impressive?) For so many years, this is the first time where our batting is clicking so much. As a bowling unit, happy to take the back seat. They are ruining us (smiles), when we defend 180 or so, it'll feel like less. (They play same way in nets?) Yes, same, especially Head and Abhishek, playing same way. Batters sometimes play opposite in the nets, but they play the same way. (How will the IPL be won - will it be bowling?) Bowling is something .... somebody says batting wins your sponsorship, but bowling wins you championship. The way we are bowling right now looks bad on the scorecard but it is pretty good for us," Bhuvneshwar concluded.
T Natarajan, who joined Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in 2018, has become a key part of their bowling attack alongside Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The left-arm pacer from Tamil Nadu has continued his impressive form in IPL 2024, picking up 10 wickets in just five matches so far. Riding high on this win, SRH will now be looking to extend their winning streak when they face Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on April 25.
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