David Warner relieved as Hyderabad seal fifth straight playoff berth after beating Mumbai

Hyderabad skipper David Warner seemed to be on the seventh sky after his team got the better of the title-holders Mumbai during the last league match of the Dream11 IPL 2020 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Tuesday. 

Chasing a competitive total of 150, Warner led from the front and played an anchor's role to perfection with an unbeaten 85 as the Orange Army got past the finish line by 10 wickets and 17 balls to spare. By the virtue of this win, the 2016 champions have sealed a fifth consecutive playoff berth while the two-time winners Kolkata have been knocked out of the tournament.

Hyderabad will now lock horns with southern rivals Bangalore in the Eliminator on Friday while the defending champions Mumbai will be facing Delhi in Qualifier 1 on Thursday. 

'It feels good now': David Warner

"It feels good now after that dreadful loss against KXIP. They rested a few players but to hold them to 150 on this ground was great. A lot of credit goes to the bowlers, Nadeem was superb. We were trying to be as clinical with the bat then, and it feels good. We try and put our best foot forward, and that stems from the franchise owners. They are great people and it is like a family. We have a never say die attitude and that is how we approach each game. We had a couple of injuries but they are here in spirit and we are doing it for them. Kane missed out due to injury last year and Jonny took his place and was absolutely fantastic. But that happens in franchise cricket, we can play only four overseas players. We looked at 2016, we were in the same situation where we had to win every game to win the title", said Warner during the post-match interview.

His counterpart Rohit Sharma went on to say that it was their worst performance of the season.

"Not the day we want to remember, probably our worst performance of the season. We wanted to try a few things, it didn't go our way. We knew dew was going to play a factor and we wanted to take the toss out of consideration, but we didn't play good cricket today. I was happy to be back, it's been a while. I'm looking forward to play few more games here, let's see what happens. It (hamstring) is fine, absolutely. We play at Wankhede where there's dew in the second innings. You have to back your skills and believe that you can get people out. They played good shots in the powerplay, and that helped them. If you take wickets in the Powerplay, even if there is dew, it can put pressure on the opposition. It's a very funny format. It's always nice to forget was has happened, and focus on the present", said Rohit.

Shahbaz Nadeem, who was adjudged the Man of the Match award for his remarkable bowling performance said that he has been playing like this for the last couple of seasons.

"I have been playing like this for the last couple of years. It is important that whenever you get your chances you need to give your 100% and that's what came out today. I have been working on the carrom ball for a couple of years and I thought it was the right time to bowl it because they have a lot of left-handers in their side. The round arm delivery doesn't bounce much, but it also depends where it pitches - if it pitches on the leather it stays low and if it pitches on the seam it bounces extra. Today I was looking to get it to skid from the leather. Contributing to the team boosts you. Everyone has been contributing and my job is to fit in. This is a very small ground but the pitches are turning slower, so as a spinner if you pitch it in the right areas, it does work", he said.