Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) were given a brutal reality check as they were outplayed in all departments of the game by the home side, Gujarat Titans (GT), as the margin of victory was a whopping 82 runs, which helped the NRR of GT and dented SRH’s one. SRH had their moments with the ball as they bowled well to keep the score under 170. But with the bat, they completely faltered and were brutally exposed by GT bowlers. GT are always on song playing in Ahmedabad. There were reasons why they faltered last night, and we will try to enlist them for you here.
Inability to break the Sai Sudharsan-Washington Sundar partnership dented SRH
After winning the toss and opting to chase, SRH started well with the ball, keeping the Titans under check and pressure. They managed to remove captain Shubman Gill and keeper batter Jos Buttler inside the power play, with both getting single-digit scores. Thereafter, Nishant Sindhu played a cameo and built a nice partnership with Sudharsan before he too departed. Sindhu also fell when the score was 64 in the 10th over, with Gujarat not out of the woods yet, as SRH felt the sense of blood at this stage.
Washington Sundar joined his Tamil Nadu teammate Sai Sudharsan in the middle, and the duo began to rescue Gujarat from a precarious position. They paced the innings nicely and made sure they didn’t lose further wickets in the rest of the middle phase and then towards the death overs phase as well. The duo built a much-needed but important partnership of 60 runs for the 4th wicket to bring the home side back on track. Sudharsan fell, but Sundar continued and put on another partnership with Holder, with him scoring the bulk of the runs.
SRH lacked the players to take wickets under pressure. They started well, but may have let the home side a bit off the hook. They lacked precision post the power play and did not make things happen, but rather waited for things to happen. The bowling was largely good, but this was an area they were a bit behind and need to sort out their issue as SRH heads towards the last two matches of the league stage, where each moment will be important.
Losing 4 wickets, including the big top three inside the power play in the chase, nearly sealed the fate of the team
Tasked with chasing 169 for the win, which was possible on that pitch, SRH would have hoped for a nice, strong start from their openers. But what followed was the total opposite as wickets started to fall at regular intervals. SRH depends a lot on their top three, but as fate would have it, they lost all three and one more inside the power play. Keeping wickets in hand is important in a tricky chase, but SRH suffered a collapse from which they could never recover.
The first to go was Impact Player Travis Head for a duck to Mohammed Siraj. Then Abhishek Sharma fell for 6 off 4 balls to Rabada, who cleaned him up. After a brief partnership between Ishan Kishan and Smaran Ravichandran, before Kishan fell for 11 off 7 balls with one four and one six to his name to Rabada. Smaran too fell in the power play for 9 off 15 balls to Rabada yet again.
SRH were 4 down inside the power play and never recovered from that situation. The start is important in a chase, and SRH were completely on the back foot. They never really recovered and kept on losing wickets at regular intervals to be eventually bowled out for 86 in 14.5 overs. The power play set the tone for the chase, and the batting was totally exposed. No one stood up under pressure when it mattered the most. The Orange Army needs to forget this match quickly and come back fresh for the upcoming contests.
Overdependence on the top 3 is heavily hurting SRH’s prospects
One of the main talking points for SRH post this defeat is their over-reliance on the top 3, namely Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head and Ishan Kishan. If these three fire, or should we say one of them fires, SRH are in good space. But if all three fail at the same time, SRH are totally exposed as their middle order contains talent but is less experienced. Yes, there is Heinrich Klaasen, and he has done his job, but he too wilted under the pressure of the run rate. Once the top 3 fell inside the power play, then the writing was on the wall for SRH.
Throughout the season, Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma gave the team starts, and even when the top two have missed out, Ishan Kishan has chipped in alongside Heinrich Klaasen. But this was such a rare day in which they fell early for no scores, and the rest of the batting just did not show resistance. This is a concern for SRH, as they do not have proper batters in form in the middle order. It has got to do with experience and lack of it. The motive is one of the top three has to fire if not both for the team to do well, and let Klaasen take care of the end overs.
These problems about the top 3 are prevalent in GT also, but they manage it really well, and others are slowly chipping in for them. For SRH, they need to bat better, improve and come back stronger. Their destiny is still under their control despite the loss, and they must win against CSK and RCB to qualify for the playoffs. GT are almost there, having one foot in the playoffs.
What Lies Ahead
So, GT with this win has gone to 16 points from 12 games and is almost through to the playoffs. They will next face KKR in Kolkata on Saturday, May 16th. While SRH will be back in action on Monday night when they face CSK in Chennai. SRH have RCB as their last league game in Hyderabad. Tonight, it’s a big clash as RCB hosts KKR in Raipur. Let’s see who comes out on top in this clash.
Also Read:Â GT vs SRH: Kagiso Rabada & Jason Holder Tears SRH Apart