David Warner said that it was not one of the placid surfaces to play on.

By Chandraboli Mitra

One of the favourites to win this tournament, NSW, got off to a flying start through their openers Warner and Philip Hughes, after winning the toss against Victoria Bushrangers.

Overcoming what has been regarded as one of the toughest pitch to score runs on - the Ferozshah Kotla wicket, Warner flew to 48 off 25 balls in almost no time, hence setting the tone for a huge total.

"I just played my shots to the square of the wicket and concentrated on hitting the ball as straight as possible," said Warner, after the match that his team NSW won comfortably by 79 runs.

"It is true that you cannot hit as much as you would have liked to on this wicket. You have to play the ball on its merit. So I was cautious and at the same time, I reacted to each ball differently. That's how T20 is played and I did just that," added Warner.

Warner, who was ably supported by his opening partner Hughes (35 off 28 balls), took his team to 56 for no loss at the end of the sixth over to lay down just the kind of platform NSW were looking for.

"We got off to a great start and best part was we could capitalise in the first six overs, which obviously was very important. I and Philip were communicating and we decided to play very straight," said Warner.

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The slam bang version of cricket that has redefined the role of batsmen by titling it more in their favour, has seen NSW having one of the strongest bowling line-up in the tournament. And it has helped them win games on more than one occasion. Even on Wednesday, the bowlers hardly gave any chance to Victoria Bushrangers batmen, restricting them to 90 for nine as they chased 170.

Praising the bowlers, Warner said, "Bowlers and batsmen make a team and both departments must work hand-in-hand to succeed consistently. Our bowlers have been outstanding."

Meanwhile, when the Bushrangers captain Cameron White said,"NSW were clearly the best team."

"They played their shots very well. We lost wickets early while chasing a huge total. It is disappointing that we failed to execute our plans."

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