Sunrisers Hyderabad went joint-top of the IPL standings following their 13-run win over Kings XI Punjab and Sandeep Sharma believes part of the success is down to the captaincy of Kane Williamson.

Williamson replaced David Warner as captain for the 2016 champions at the start of the 2018 campaign and the team have been formidable so far with five wins in seven matches.

Their latest victory saw Rashid Khan steal the show with figures of 3-19 but his fellow bowler Sharma believes Williamson deserves a lot of credit for the way they have performed.

“Kane Williamson has been a very good influence. He is very calm,” said Sharma.

“When you see him at the ground, he is always positive. Whenever we score low totals, he says to forget that. He asks us to focus on our bowling and taking wickets. If the leader is calm under such a situation, it increases our confidence,” he added, who took two wickets for 17 runs against Kings XI on Thursday night.