Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) bagged their second win on the trot in IPL 2022 on Friday as they defeated Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by seven wickets at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. Indian pacer Umran Malik impressed for the Sunrisers as he breathed fire with the ball and continued to clock good pace consistently throughout the game.
Malik was on fire against the Knight Riders as he finished with excellent figures of 2/27 in his four overs to help his side restrict the Shreyas Iyer-led side on 175/8 in 20 overs. The young pacer bowled an unplayable yorker to clean up KKR skipper Iyer in the game and earned praise from all corners for his terrific execution.
In the 10th over of KKR’s innings, Malik produced a sensational yorker to bamboozle Iyer, who was batting on 28. The dismissal soon became one of the talking points of the game as it was a near-perfect delivery from the right-arm quick, who has been backed immensely by SRH this season despite going for runs.
Soon after Malik removed Iyer with his stunning yorker, the SRH dugout was jubilant. SRH bowling coach Dale Steyn was spotted celebrating passionately with Sri Lankan legend Muttiah Muralitharan, who is also part of the team’s backroom staff. Steyn opened up on his celebration post SRH’s win and revealed the reason behind it.
Also Read: Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram guide Sunrisers Hyderabad to victory over Kolkata Knight Riders
Steyn was seen hugging Muralitharan after Malik’s yorker to Iyer and the video of his celebration went viral on social media. Steyn revealed Muralitharan had said a yorker would be the ‘perfect ball’ to bowl to Iyer as he was backing away. However, Steyn and SRH head coach Tom Moody thought otherwise. But Malik went on to nail a yorker on the next delivery and sent Iyer packing.
“I’m not going to lie to you. Sometimes, the players’ genius comes out. Murali (Muttiah Muralitharan) actually said that he thinks the perfect ball to bowl right now is a yorker. Tom (Moody) and I turned around and said, ‘no, if he bowls a yorker now, he is going to be hit for a four over his head’. He runs in, bowls a yorker, and knocks the stumps out of the ground! So, honestly, what do I know?” – said Steyn after the game.
“The genius is in the players, guys. They have to do what they have to do, and when they have to do it, I just jumped into Murali! I was like, “you are a spin bowling coach and now you are making these amazing calls”,” Steyn added.
Malik, who was one of the three players to be retained by SRH ahead of the mega auction this year has been improving under the guidance of the like of Steyn and Muralitharan and is expected to continue being a regular in the paying XI this season.
