IPL 2021: Umran Malik certainly is special, says Kane Williamson

Abu Dhabi [UAE], October 7 (ANI): Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) captain Kane Williamson believes that pace sensation Umran Malik is special after the Indian youngster clocked 153kph to bowl the fastest delivery of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) held the nerve to defeat Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by four runs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jason Holder, Siddarth Kaul, Umran Malik, and Rashid Khan picked one wicket each for SRH while Devdutt Padikkal and Glenn Maxwell played innings of 41 and 40 respectively for the RCB.

Earlier, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) was restricted to the score of 141/7 as Harshal Patel scalped three wickets while Dan Christian and George Garton returned with two and one respectively. Yuzvendra Chahal also bagged one wicket. Jason Roy and Kane Williamson played innings of 44 and 31 respectively as SRH's middle-order batters failed to bank on after such a good start.

Kane Williamson, SRH skipper and Player of the Match during the post-match presentation said: "It's been a tough season and it's great to see some of those small improvements. To see those small adjustments was good, we thought that total was competitive and we saw that fight throughout the ball as well. I was just trying to maximize the powerplay and the ball was holding on the surface and we were fortunate to build a partnership and we knew things wouldn't happen quickly from a bowling perspective, but we knew if we held our nerve and stay there for longer periods, we can build that pressure. Game was getting tight and dismissing him (Maxwell) one way or the other was the key, they are a fantastic side and even though we are not in the contention it was great to see the fight."

"He certainly is special (on Umran Malik). We saw him in the nets in the last couple of seasons and he is a real competitor and is proving to be effective even on slower surfaces. He's got a lot of mates in the team as well and that helps in sharing the knowledge. It's a great opportunity for the younger guys to get involved and hopefully we will keep learning and we go again on Friday," he added. (ANI)