Mumbai, May 18 (IANS): Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) skipper Kane Williamson has called pace bowler Umran Malik the "bonus weapon" of his side even though the talented youngster has been expensive at times in the current edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Umran, after a few expensive spells in earlier games, came into his own, taking three wickets for 23 runs in three overs as SRH halted Mumbai Indians' chase of 193 in their league game at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday night. The pacer, who recently clocked the fastest delivery of the season at 157kmph, took out the well-set MI opener Ishan Kishan, Daniel Sams and the talented Tilak Varma to wipe out the five-time champions' top order.
Williamson said that Umran's contribution had been "brilliant" in SRH's three-run win against Mumbai on Tuesday.
"He (Umran) always bowls quick, which is a real strength and bonus weapon for our side. He's still young but clearly has an amazing skill-set there that if he can channel and use at the right times, then can turn a match. We saw that (against Mumbai). His contribution was brilliant."
Batters Priyam Garg and Rahul Tripathi too clicked at the top, having scores of 42 and 76 respectively and Williamson said that they are the players who are guaranteed of a lot more opportunities in the future for the franchise.
"He's (Priyam) a seriously talented cricketer. Great that he can have that opportunity (against MI) and he's one of those players that I think we're going to see a lot more of. He's got a really good head on his shoulders, captained his Under-19 year. A lot of potential but a lot of skill as well," said the New Zealander.
"He's (Tripathi) a seriously special player and he comes out and takes that momentum away and that's his attitude every time he bats. We've seen that on a number of occasions throughout this competition. He's certainly destined for big things I reckon," added Williamson.
SRH might have been eliminated from the playoffs race but their death-overs bowling has stood out, and on Tuesday night, Williamson gave credit to his bowlers for the narrow win.
On the decision to give the ball to Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the 19th over, Williamson said, "I think it got to a point where... our death bowling has been a real strength of ours and Bhuvi has been one of the top death bowlers of the competition. So, an opportunity to try to close the game a little bit. But the striking of (MI batter) Tim David is obviously something special and it took a funny bit of cricket to get that to come to an end.
"But at the same time, a lot of learning, but Bhuvi has been incredible and at his best in every match to be fair and really led our attack which is really important throughout a season. His contribution, and to bowl a (wicket-) maiden, is an amazing contribution and a match-winning moment really.
"Nice to break (the losing streak). We had a few games there where momentum certainly wasn't on our side and we couldn't wrestle it back. This game (vs MI) ebbed and flowed and we won a few key moments to get across the line. I'm sure you've touched on a number of outstanding contributions today but all in all, I think a really good performance and a lot of learnings come from it," added Williamson.