Small margins, big hearts and monotonous efficiency - the Sunrisers success story

It took less than a week's time into this year's Indian Premier League to establish that batsmen will once again reign supreme in a season strung together by one lop-sided contest after another. The statistic that captains chose to field in 49 out of 59 fixtures this season meant very little to the pugnacious David Warner ahead of the big final. "I always believe in putting runs on the board," he had said during the course of the tournament, revealing a touch of old-school in a new-age cricketer.

Yet, on Sunday, when Warner decided to bat against a side led by a meticulously successful chaser of totals in a batting Cathedral, it felt like a massive gamble. Reverse psychology? Aussie grit? Or just a strong call based on instincts? Whatever it was, Warner had fired an immensely bold opening salvo, hoping his troops would match his forward strides. In front of a 40,000-strong capacity crowd, chanting 'RCB..RCB' more than an hour ahead of the fixture, the skipper was not to be let down.

The predicament of letting Royal Challengers Bangalore chase in such a high-stakes clash, drove Warner to set the tone for his team once again, scoring his ninth half-century of the tournament. Beyond his staggering batting stats, only second to Virat Kohli this season, he's been a captain par excellence.

In a tournament where some of the owners and think-tank take a myopic view and overhaul in their quest to glory, Sunrisers opted to iron out the flaws that narrowly denied them a spot in the playoffs last season, thereby laying the foundation stones of the success to come as early as in February. Shrewd as their business was, it needed to be followed up with even shrewder cricketing decisions for it to culminate into something meaningful. Under Warner, Sunrisers managed to achieve that.

"It's not about me, it's about the team. I've said this from the start, it takes a team to win a tournament," Warner said, even as Tom Moody, team's head coach, hailed his enormous influence on the title-winning squad. In Warner, Sunrisers found an attacking skipper who would expertly shape his team's triumphs around a fine bowling combination. To do that in a league riddled with obscene display of batsmanship only sweetens the end the result.

In their eight league-stage victories, there was a pattern of monotonous efficiency. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mustafizur Rahman would lead expertly with the ball before Warner finished off games with the bat. A closer look, however, provided a deeper insight.

A T20 team's fate today, perhaps, depends on the number of proven match-winners in each department of the game and their form on the day. Kolkata Knight Riders crumbled in the absence of Andre Russell, Gujarat Lions couldn't recover from two successive batting failures in the playoffs after finishing on top and Royal Challengers, despite Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli's determination to drive the side to a title, fell short as AB de Villiers went missing on the big night after having single-handedly dragged the team through to the final.

That Sunrisers steered clear of any such fallibility speaks volumes of their achievement. Losing Ashish Nehra twice in the tournament was a blow big enough to scupper their chances, but the management's confidence in Barinder Sran, a young Indian pacer, reaped rich rewards. With a world class bowler like Trent Boult waiting in the wings, Sunrisers could have been tempted to re-jig their combinations and bring the New Zealander in to fill Nehra's shoes. But their call, a tough one, to instead go with a young fast bowler helped them maintain their shape, without having to compromise on results.

Sunrisers' success, thus, lay not just in the performances of their regular heroes, but also the coming of age of the supporting cast. On a day when Warner failed, Yuvraj Singh and Moises Henriques stepped up to stifle two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders in the eliminator. In a match that was decided by fine margins, Bipul Sharma's two sixes off Morne Morkel in the last over also proved pivotal. Against Gujarat Lions in the second eliminator, Ben Cutting, playing in only his third game of the season, dismissed Aaron Finch and Dwayne Smith to cut off the table-toppers' scoring supply in the death overs before Warner unleashed himself upon the opposition. Here too, a brazen contribution from Bipul (11-ball 27) proved to be priceless. Cutting shattered the roof with a repeat of his heroics on the grand stage with a 15-ball 39 that helped Sunrisers finish in excess of 200 instead of 180. He returned to dismiss Gayle and give his side the smallest avenue to carve open the best line-up in the tournament. And just like that, in the space of five days, Sunrisers won three crunch games to romp home to a maiden title.