When Warner and Bairstow have a night out, they are very difficult to stop: Michael Vaughan
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“He is a class act,” added Vaughan, making special mention of Bairstow, who was named Player of the Match. “If you look at white-ball cricket of the last five years, you have to put him in the top bracket because of the consistent levels at which he has performed … He is a powerful player. You can see the way he can strike the ball. He is so busy, so difficult to keep quiet because he runs between the wickets so hard.”
Hyderabad cruised to a 69-run win against Punjab in Match 22 of the 2020 IPL, at Dubai. Hyderabad got 201/6 largely due to a 160-run opening stand off 91 balls, between David Warner (52 in 40 balls) and Jonny Bairstow (97 in 55). Punjab were then bowled out for a mere 132, Rashid Khan leading the way with 4-1-12-3, the high point being a double-wicket maiden in the 15th over.
In the My11 Circle Cricbuzz Live, Michael Vaughan praised the Hyderabad openers: “If they come out and play the way they did today, the Warner-Bairstow combination … When they have a night out, they are very difficult to stop. They run between the wickets hard, they are powerful, [they are a] left-hand-right-hand combination.”
“He is a class act,” added Vaughan, making special mention of Bairstow, who was named Player of the Match. “If you look at white-ball cricket of the last five years, you have to put him in the top bracket because of the consistent levels at which he has performed … He is a powerful player. You can see the way he can strike the ball. He is so busy, so difficult to keep quiet because he runs between the wickets so hard.”
Vaughan criticised Punjab’s strategies, pointing out that Mujeeb Ur Rahman is not good enough to bat at No. 7. “There are too many brains, too many chefs in the kitchen. It’s a simple game that has almost been overcomplicated … But the basics of the game haven’t changed. I don’t care what format it is – you don’t send Mujeeb to deal [with] Rashid [Khan]”.
“To be brutally honest, they [Punjab] have got some good individuals that, on their day, can surprise anyone,” added Vaughan, citing the example of Nicholas Pooran, who helped himself to the fastest fifty of the season, off 17 balls, and finished on 77 from 37 balls. However, Vaughan concluded that “is just not a good team,” contrasting them with more balanced sides like Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata.
“Anil Kumble, as we know him, is very systems-driven,” Bhogle expressed his surprise at Punjab’s tendency to frequently chop and change members from the playing XI. “Anil has been there, done that, he has been in the Mumbai Indians, he has been a magnificent captain for India, so that’s what surprises me a little bit.”
Thanks to the win, Hyderabad are now at third place, while Punjab are still languishing at the bottom.