Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Kane Williamson admitted that they were outplayed by Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 54th match of IPL 2022 at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Sunday after they lost by a huge margin of 67 runs.
RCB posted a par score of 192-3 after Faf du Plessis won the toss and decided to bat first.
Virat Kohli continued to struggle as he was dismissed on a golden duck by Jagadeesha Suchith. However, Faf du Plessis and Rajat Patidar were able to stitch together a fine alliance of 105 runs. Faf got to his fifty off just 25 balls whereas Patidar, who has impressed in recent matches, fell short of the landmark by two runs.
Faf went on to score a fine knock of 73 runs off just 50 balls whereas Glenn Maxwell contributed with 33 runs from 24 balls. Furthermore, the finishing kick was once again provided by Dinesh Karthik, who smacked a fine cameo of 30 runs off just eight balls.
On the other hand, Sunrisers Hyderabad could not get going with the bat as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. The Orange Army was bundled out for only 125 runs after Wanindu Hasaranga returned with impressive figures of 5-18 in his four overs. Except for Rahul Tripathi, none of the SRH batters could find any impetus in their batting innings.
Williamson feels his bowling unit was getting the help of fresh pitches when they won five matches in a row. SRH now have lost four games on the bounce and they need to come up with a better batting show.
Kane Williamson said in the post-match presentation, “It’s been quite a challenge for us, we need to come up with ways to reverse that pressure and turnaround. These have been par totals, and the batting has been quality, but as a unit, there are areas to touch on. I think earlier in the competition when there was assistance with the new ball we were certainly very threatening, so we need to go back to the drawing board as we have a little gap between the next game. We will have to get a bit more creative and come up with ways to change the momentum. Today we were outplayed, RCB is a really strong side, in fact, all teams are strong. For us, it’s about looking to stay calm. We do need to improve but don’t need to overthink. The margins are always fine, but we need to show signs of improvement.”
He added, “We didn’t get off to a great start, they had a very good total on that surface. It was holding a bit, and it was turning a bit, the wicket. We needed to build some partnerships and take the game deep in order to maximize the opportunities on this Wankhede ground, but we were unable to do that. A lot of learning, we were outplayed as I said, but we do have a gap. So it’s important for us to reassess and we need to be clear how we target our next matches and take it positively. I’m not sure exactly, but I think they (Jansen, Natarajan) are recovering pretty well. Certainly hoping to see them again soon.”
Sunrisers Hyderabad will look to return to winning ways when they will face Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday at the MCA, Pune.
