Karun Nair credits Karnataka for match-winning knock

"I was able to pull the team through and stay till the end, and remain unbeaten in a pressure situation, in a must win game. Most of our (Karnataka) batsmen are attacking batsmen. We have been in situations like this in the past where they have been must-win situations," said Karun.

Karun Nair's match-winning 83 not out against Sunrisers Hyderabad had flair, flourish and control.

Karun Nair may not be eloquent with words but then the youngster had his bat do all the talking as he led Delhi Daredevils (DD) to a six-wicket win over table-topper Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). His match-winning 83 not out had flair, flourish and control and the batsman admitted after the game that brutal assault was not his way.

“That’s how I bat at the start. I want to play normal cricket shots and hit the gaps, I am happy everything I hit went through the gaps. 160 was a good score on this big ground. It was a good wicket to bat on but it was still a massive ground and it was hard. It was like 180-190 on a normal ground,” he said.

Calling the innings as one of his best, Nair credited the influence of the Karnataka dressing room for being in control amidst pressure. “I was able to pull the team through and stay till the end, and remain unbeaten in a pressure situation, in a must win game. Most of our (Karnataka) batsmen are attacking batsmen. We have been in situations like this in the past where they have been must-win situations. We have been lucky to have played many of these tight games,” he said.

Eoin Morgan admitted SRH paid the price for sloppy fielding but refused to blame anyone in particular, focussing instead on the good batting and bowling performances. “We had our chances that could’ve taken the game to Delhi, certainly with the dropped catches, but there are tough lessons learnt. (But) there have been contributions from Shikhar (Dhawan), Yuvi (Yuvraj Singh), all the guys down the order and the bowling unit has been fantastic. They kept us in the game throughout,” Morgan said.

He didn't say it in as many words but Morgan accepted that the dropped catch by David Warner was perhaps the only chance his team had against Nair.

“I don’t think he got away from us. He got 50 off about 42 balls, that’s a good effort on this particular wicket. Soon after, we had a chance and that would’ve had the game in a balance which would’ve swung it quite dramatically because starting on this wicket was more difficult than most wickets you come in. The only change would’ve been to hold onto our catches,” he said.