Stuck to stumps line to get Warner out - Umesh Yadav

After winning only one of their last five matches, Kolkata Knight Riders needed a win to boost their chances of making it to the playoffs. Fast bowler Umesh Yadav played the protagonist as his double-strike in the first over of Sunrisers Hyderabad's innings disrupted their chase, and set the tone for Knight Riders' 35-run win.

"It was an important victory in the context of the situation of the tournament. We were disappointed after that close loss against Royal Challengers Bangalore," Yadav told iplt20.com. "We cannot afford a loss at this juncture and this win will keep us in good stead for the coming matches. Had we lost this one, we would have been in a situation of having to win the rest of the matches and we don't want to be in that position."

The first wicket Umesh took was of Sunrisers' in-form opener David Warner, the second-highest run-scorer in the tournament so far with 382 runs at an average of 42.44. Umesh said he enjoyed dismissing Warner, and it was a treat to watch him get bowled.

"Warner has been scoring in an attacking manner over the past few games and been consistent in his performances," Umesh said. "So, getting Warner out early in the innings was very important for us. You have very little margin for error while bowling to Warner. If you get wayward, you are bound to get hammered. I kept this in mind and just stuck to the stump line. It was my favourite wicket of the night."

Umesh, along with Morne Morkel, had given Knight Riders' season a strong start with their pace attack being their strong point early on. Now Umesh leads the attack as Knight Riders have left Morkel out in the last four matches.

"I have been assigned the role of picking as many wickets as possible at the start of the innings," Umesh said. "As a fast bowler, I have to pick wickets and get the opposition openers out because every team in this competition has impact openers. Taking wickets and executing plans are the most important things for me. I know if I pick wickets the next batsmen will feel the pressure and the rest of our bowlers can thrive on the pressure I have created. My focus is to make use of swing to take wickets early on."

Inspite of Umesh's wicket-taking prowess, he has an economy rate of 9.03 in this IPL. "I understand that I leak runs at times but I am working towards bettering it," he said. "Even today I started off well but leaked too many runs in the end. If we, as a fast bowling unit, don't strike early and leak runs, the impact of the other bowlers will diminish. I want to rectify such mistakes and work hard at containing runs."