In a last over finish in Raipur, the Sunrisers Hyderabad held their nerves to get the better of hosts Delhi Daredevils and kept their campaign for a place in the Pepsi IPL 2015 Playoffs alive.

Although Moises Henriques had set the stage for SRH by setting the hosts a 164-run target, Quinton de Kock’s early onslaught had the Daredevils cruising towards the target. But, introduced into the attack in the ninth over, Karn Sharma applied the brakes to DD’s innings by accounting for the opener and JP Duminy in successive overs.

Asked about his plan when he came on to bowl with the opposition in command, Karn said “My plan was to bowl as I normally do. My effort was to contain the flow of runs and create pressure.”

“It was a good thing that I got two back-to-back wickets. The team needed it at that time and I am happy to have got the breakthroughs and delivered,” he added

After de Kock had galloped to his half-century, the leg-spinner drew him out of his crease and had him stumped. “My plan while bowling to a left-hander is to bowl at their legs so that they don’t get room to hit. And that’s what I did; he stepped out, the ball turned a bit and he was beaten by the turn,” Karn said while elaborating on the crucial dismissal that helped push the opposition back.

Earlier, in the must win game, Karn was promoted up the batting order and had come in to bat in the 11th over with the scoreboard reading 64 for three. Explaining the move behind the promotion in the batting order, he said, “They had spinners bowling at the time and they also had a leg-spinner at one end. So if there is a left-hand – right-hand batting combination, it takes time for the field to get set. So that was our plan – to buy a little more time.”

“I am an all-rounder by nature. But it is just that in the IPL, the chance to bat comes late (in the innings). But I always try to give my hundred percent whenever I get the opportunity to bat,” he mentioned.

He was involved in a 35-run stand with Henriques and then came back to pick two wickets in a difficult situation. Speaking about playing under pressure, Karn said “The pressure is always there. We know that to qualify for the next phase we have to play well and win every game and that’s what we strive to do.”

Karn, who bowled three overs on the day for returns of two for 12, has also had to cope with being taken for runs by batsmen on other occasions. Looking at his role as a leg-spinner positively, he said, “It is a good thing. You get to learn a lot when you get hit for runs in a match and do well in another. And that’s what I try to do, learn from every game that I play.”

While learning on the job, he has also had the opportunity of gaining from the experience of seniors, including legends like former Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan. “I get to learn a lot from him. He has so much of international experience; he teaches you how to handle yourself in a pressure situation and other such things. He advises that when you are getting hit for runs in T20, then (the best thing to do is to) try to bowl your normal (stock) deliveries and not experiment too much.”

Karn has also picked a few things from senior leg-spinner Amit Mishra, who was part of SRH before being signed up by the Delhi Daredevils at the Pepsi IPL 2015 Player Auction. “I learnt a lot from him too. We bowled together for a couple of years and played together. He too talked about bowling and handling pressure situations.”

“Everyone emphasizes that how you handle pressure is important,” he added, indicating that to be successful in the sport, one had to learn to deal with pressure.

The Sunrisers have held their nerve to pull off back-to-back wins against the Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Daredevils and will gain confidence from those close games. “It is a good thing (to win close matches). We needed to win to qualify for the Playoffs and we will try to take it step by step and win matches,” Karn concluded.