David Warner was a dejected captain as Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) suffered a 13-run defeat from the winning position against Mumbai Indians (MI) at Chepauk on Saturday (April 17).
Chasing 151 to win, SRH were cruising as the duo of Warner and Jonny Bairstow put on 67 runs for the opening wicket. Krunal Pandya broke the partnership by removing Bairstow on 43 and then leg-spinner Rahul Chahar ran through Sunrisers’ middle-order.
Chahar removed Manish Pandey (2), Virat Singh (11) and Abhishek Sharma (2) in quick succession while Hardik Pandya affected the run-out of Warner (36) and Abdul Samad (7) as MI reduced SRH to 129/6.
In the death-overs, Trent Boult (3-28) and Jasprit Bumrah (1-14) demolished Hyderabad’s lower-order, bundling them out for 137 in 19.4 overs.
Speaking after the game, Warner rued not playing smart cricket in the middle overs.
"I don't know how to take that. Two of us got set, my run out, Jonny stepping on his wickets, and false shots in the middle proved that if you don't have two guys at the end, you don't win," Warner said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
"These scores are very chase-able, it's just poor batting. If you get a partnership and have one guy at the end, you can chase down 150 easily. You just need smart cricket in the middle, we aren't doing that," he added.
Vijay Shankar (2-19), Mujeeb Ur Rahman (2-29) and Khaleel Ahmed (1-24) starred with the ball for Sunrisers as they restricted MI to a modest 150/5 in 20 overs.
"I think our bowlers adapted well to this wicket, it's slower than the ones we played on earlier. We've got to learn from the mistakes and right now it's just the batsmen. We've got to take responsibility," said Warner.
SRH's middle order is badly missing the services of seasoned campaigner Kane Williamson and Warner said if the New Zealand skipper recovers he might get an opportunity.
"Got to move forward, put some smiles on our faces. Have been speaking to the phsyio and Williamson is coming along nicely and I'm sure if he's ready to go he might get an opportunity," Warner concluded.
Sunrisers Hyderabad will take on Punjab Kings in their next game on Wednesday (April 21).
(With ANI inputs)
