Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) coach Brian Lara asked his team’s batters to step up especially after the loss to Delhi Capitals (DC) at home in Hyderabad on April 24, 2023, when they failed to chase down 144 runs.
Thanks to 34 runs each from Akshar Patel and Manish Pandey, DC somehow managed to post 144/9 in 20 overs on the board on a sluggish Hyderabad pitch.
But in reply, the SRH batters never got going and the DC bowlers made sure the opposition never had any momentum in their chase, until Washington Sundar almost gave them a scare in the end. But with Akshar Patel and Anrich Nortje taking two wickets each, SRH was restricted to 137/6 and lost the match by 7 runs.
The hosts paid the price for being too conservative in their approach and coach Lara said: "There were no devils in the pitch, and we could have been more proactive throughout the innings. We left everything too late. I prefer if my batters are a bit more enterprising and take advantage in Powerplay. We allowed them to take wickets in the middle and cramp us."
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Heinrich Klaasen (31) and Washington Sundar (24) tried to resurrect the chase but pace duo of Anrich Nortje and Mukesh Kumar bowled well at the death to limit them to 137.
"The first 15 overs were crucial and we should have been in a much better position. With the fast bowlers coming back, we could get 12 or 13 per over but these guys – Ishant Sharma, Mukesh and Nortje are professionals and they put the balls in the right areas. However, we should have chased down that total comfortably. Our bowlers did a good job and our batters needed to do a better job,” he added.
Lara also spoke about SRH’s chances of making it into the playoffs after just 2 wins from 7 matches.
He said: "But moving on, we have seven games left and need to regroup quickly. Our backs are against the wall, and there is no doubt about that and we need to take more responsibility moving forward.”
On the other hand, DC spinner Kuldeep Yadav said as a team there was always this belief that they can defend the total.
"100 percent we believed as a team and as a bowling unit we did really well throughout in the tournament and this was our chance to show. I thought we really bowled well in the powerplay, gave away 35-36 runs. Thereafter myself and Axar, we just kept us in the game in the middle phase and in the last four overs, Nortje and Mukesh bowled really well.
We didn't get a wicket in the pack but we bowled really well throughout the 20 overs. We kept the pressure on them by not giving the easy boundaries,” Kuldeep said.
Kuldeep was all praises for Mukesh Kumar, who defended 13 runs in the last over. He said: "He bowled well in the last game as well. He is playing his first IPL, he is improving day by day. Bowling in the death overs are never easy.”
Some praise was also reserved for DC captain David Warner.
“The planning was superb by the captain. He has played here for seven years. He knows the conditions well and that's why he opted to bat first. Wicket was slow and he thought it probably is difficult to chase. As a bowling unit, he believed in us. He gave freedom to each and everyone.
We lost five games but last couple of games we played really well. As a bowling unit and a fielding unit we did well but I still feel as a batting unit we need to improve and hopefully we will do that in remaining games,” he added.
(PTI inputs)
