IPL 2021 | Jason Roy brings the best for any team he plays for: Kane Williamson

Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Kane Williamson heaped praise on Jason Roy who scored a fine fifty on his debut for the franchise against Rajasthan Royals at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Monday.

Roy scored a fine knock of 60 runs off just 42 balls to help his team get close to the target of 165 runs against the inaugural champions.

The England opener took a bit of time in the initial phase of his innings but gained confidence after settling down. Roy took the attack against Mustafizur Rahman in the fourth over of the powerplay as he scored a couple of boundaries. Subsequently, the right-hander took 18 runs from Chris Morris over to change gears.

The talisman then took 21 runs from Rahul Tewatia and also completed his fifty with a boundary off just 36 balls. Roy also had the rub of the green on his side as he was dropped by Yashasvi Jaiswal when he was on 55 but could not make the most of his second life.

However, Roy laid the foundation for SRH which they have been missing in their previous matches. The Orange Army was able to score 63-1 in the powerplay overs which is their best of the ongoing season and Roy scored almost half of these runs.

Kane Williamson said in the post-match presentation, “It’s a good feeling, some real clarity in roles as well and it’s nice to be back to winning ways. There were a couple of periods of play that were quite significant and we closed nicely with the ball and to get off the start with the bat like that and it was never easy, had to weather some storms with the ball holding up.

It’s nice to finish with a win. Any team he comes in he (Roy) brings that, did what he does take the game and it’s nice to see him do well. Nice contribution for him. A couple of days now between games, important for us to recover and we have to adapt and make some adjustments. Always a tough team to beat and for us it’s about to worry about our game and play with that smile on the face”.

Meanwhile, Jason Roy had replaced Jonny Bairstow, who decided to pull out of IPL 2021. Roy then got a place in the playing XI in place of former skipper David Warner. In fact, SRH made a total of four changes to their final XI against RR.

SRH will next face Chennai Super Kings at Sharjah Cricket Stadium on 30th September.