Skipper David Warner hit a smashing hundred as Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 48 runs in a rain-hit IPL 10 encounter at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Sunday.
Warner blasted 126 off 59 balls with 10 fours and eight sixes as Sunrisers posted a dominating 209/3 batting first.
Speaking about the win after the match, Warner said, "It was really an outstanding win. We generally look to bat first and set the tone with a positive intent from ball one.
"We managed to maintain a run-rate of 10 an over, which was amazing. We managed to maintain it throughout the partnership between Shikhar (Dhawan) and myself.
"We keep rotating the strike and we've been gelling together really very well.
"No wonder Shikhar's run-a-ball contribution was fantastic. It helped a lot," he added. Warner and Dhawan featured in another hundred run stand.
Speaking about his match-winning knock, Warner said, "I did enjoy a little bit of luck, but well and truly, it's a fantastic wicket out there. We know this ground very well and we batted with intent tonight.
"No total is safe in this tournament, so we needed to strike in the first six overs. I'm glad that we could do so."
KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir on the other hand felt the team needed to improve their fielding. "We need to improve our fielding. We have been very sloppy so far in this area throughout the competition... Need to pull up our socks if we have to do well. Catches win matches and you cannot give a reprieve to someone like David Warner," he said.
"They couldn't have got to that total if we had taken our chances. We have two more games left at home, hopefully we can play some good cricket there," he added.
--By A Cricket Correspondent