'It was frustrating the crap out of Virat' - David Warner recalls his century stand with Jonny Bairstow against RCB

The Sunrisers Hyderabad batting department looked in good touch in the previous IPL and one of the main reasons behind it was the robust opening pair of David Warner and Jonny Bairstow. Both the batsmen– capable of playing explosive knocks– steered the Hyderabad franchise to many daunting starts in the previous season of the Indian Premier League.

Combining technique with a fiery batting approach, the duo amassed 791 runs for Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2019 including four century stands. And one such century partnership came against Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore in Hyderabad.

Bairstow (114) and Warner (100) hit a century each to put up a 185-run stand for the opening wicket against RCB. The duo steered Sunrisers Hyderabad to a staggering total of 231/2 in the stipulated 20 overs. Reminiscing the impressive opening stand, Warner opened up about his partnership with Bairstow while talking to commentator Harsha Bhogle.

Warner said that he and Bairstow were scoring runs for fun in that century stand. The due was converting singles into doubles and were wreaking havoc on the RCB bowling force, leaving skipper Virat Kohli frustrated. Warner, during the interaction, also said that he never played with or against Bairstow a lot but the duo was successful in reading each other’s game and complimenting each other to thrash the opposition.

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“It was really bizarre because me and Jonny, we’ve never played with each other or against each other. We didn’t really know each other off the field. But as soon as we had the first net session and the first hit out, it was almost like we knew each other’s game so well.”

“The best thing about our combination, that I knew deep down, was how fast we are between wickets,” Warner told Harsha Bhogle on Cricbuzz in Conversation.

“We just knew that if we bat the way we did in the first six – like we normally do – and then once the field goes out, we can pinch the odd one or two. If we can rotate the strike, it’s going to frustrate a lot of people. I look back at the RCB game, I think (there were) 21 or 22 twos (during the partnership).”

“It was frustrating the crap out of Virat. When Virat went out to the field at midwicket, we were running twos to him. The thing is when you’ve got that instinct anyone can do that. When you’re batting so well with someone, and gel well, you can turn ones into twos quite easily,” added Warner.

Sunrisers Hyderabad finished fourth in the previous season after flying off to a good start.