Sunrisers Hyderabad didn’t have a great campaign in the IPL 2023 so far. They are second from the bottom of the points table, with only six points from nine games as well. Moreover, they won only one match in their last five matches as well. And, the main reason behind this is their lack of impact with the bat. Even in their most recent game against Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday (May 4), Sunrisers managed 166 runs in a chase of 172, with Varun Chakaravarthy defending eight in the final over as well. And, Brian Lara felt early wickets and the lack of partnerships in the game have hurt Sunrisers.
“We’re trying to get a winning combination. We seem to be getting it, definitely in the bowling department. Those guys have put their hands up in nearly every single match. We just let them down with the bat,” Brian Lara said following the game.
“We keep losing a couple of wickets in the powerplay. That always sets you back a bit. We asked [Heinrich] Klaasen, who has been batting tremendously for us, to do all the hardwork again. He’s coming in at No.6 and we’ve got five quality players before him. It’s always been a task, I wouldn’t say uphill. Obviously the batters will know that the responsibility of winning the game on such a good batting track lay in their hands and we were unable to do it. I just believe that we have to place a little more importance on partnerships and understanding a little bit of match awareness. It’s all great to be aggressive and have all the intent. But you got to use a little bit upstairs to get the job done,” he further added.
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Sunrisers Hyderabad got off to a positive start in the chase as they managed 53 in the powerplay but they also lost three crucial wickets in the process. Later, a 70-run standoff of 47 balls between Klaasen and skipper Aiden Markram revived the innings. But their dismissals and a fine spell in the death from Varun Chakravarthy sealed the deal for KKR.
When asked if the batters could have played better again spin, Lara replied: “They are quality spinners and we’re seeing that as a trend, as the tournament goes on the spinners are coming into play. We try to maximise the powerplay, see how much we can get in the powerplay. We won the powerplay, actually. It’s just the fact that we lost a couple of wickets and the likes of Narine, Chakaravarthy, they are all world class spinners.
“At that stage maybe understanding what was necessary. Markram and Klaasen did put on a good partnership, we got ourselves right back in the game with a couple of big overs and lost a couple of wickets at a very crucial stage of the match. I wouldn’t say it’s a weakness against spin or anything like that. I just believe that we had a game to win. We have to hold our hands up and say they didn’t beat us, we lost the game,” Brian Lara again said.
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“Harry works very hard in the nets. He hits a lot of balls, he looks in good shape in the nets. When you look at him batting and preparing for the match, he looks in pretty good shape. Harry will have to work out what’s going wrong. I’m always here with an ear to listen to or give advice anytime needed. We also have a batting coach in Hemang as well. So we’ve got the ingredients to work with any of the players. Hopefully if Harry improves it will be a great benefit for the team,” Brian Lara continued.
