• Source:JND
Add as a preferred

Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach Daniel Vettori admitted that their bowling unit will be under pressure against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and said that the side will require 'exceptional performance' to beat the hosts at M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday.

Despite being placed at the bottom of the table with only one win in six matches, Vettori did not rule out RCB's potential in the tournament.

"I don't think anyone in any team underestimates the quality of RCB. They're a very good team. So, it's going to take an exceptional performance from us to try and beat them. Every (IPL) game is hard and particularly when you're playing away from home," Vettori said in the pre-match press conference on Sunday.

"RCB will obviously keep learning from what's happened in the previous games and they're going to come out pretty aggressive. We're going to be under a lot of pressure as a bowling unit for how aggressive they are going to be," he added.

Former New Zealand spinner feels that RCB will come back strong in the match but the visitors have to continue their promising show with the bat.

"So, we need to find ways to counter that and then keep up with our batting form which has been really good," said Vettori.

The Kiwi further opined that scoring big scores at M Chinnaswamy should not be taken for granted as the surface is slower this year.

"I think most teams come here thinking that it's going to be a high-scoring fixture. I've probably seen a couple of surfaces this year that have been slightly slower," he said.

The former left-arm spinner, who also had a long association with RCB as a player and coach, said teams prefer to chase at Chinnaswamy because of the ease to control the backend of the innings.

"We understand the ball travels here and the boundary sizes are small. So, I think you have to keep challenging yourself to try and take wickets because any team can score that 60-70 at the backend.

"I know no score is safe (here) and I always feel like you're in the game, particularly when you are chasing. Most teams will come here and try to chase because they feel that it's easier to navigate the endings," he explained.
Vettori had a word of praise for SRH middle-order batter Heinrich Klaasen, who has been in fine fettle in this IPL.

The South African batter has made 186 runs from five matches at a frenetic strike-rate of 193.

"He's been exceptional for a long period of time and he's in that category of the likes of (Andre) Russell where teams really fear him in that backend and they set up their bowling plans to try and negate him.

"But he's been so good for such a long period of time that he has allowed us to either win the games or always be in the game," he added.

(With PTI inputs)