188, 150, 151 – These are the scores that Sunrisers Hyderabad have failed to chase in their first three matches of Indian Premier League 2021. While they had to chase a par score of 188 in their first match against Kolkata Knight Riders, they couldn’t get over the line against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians when they had to chase below-par scores of 150 and 151 respectively.
Sunrisers Hyderabad’s middle-order has been their Achilles Heel and their skipper David Warner has admitted that the scores were chaseable and they have batted poorly. Warner feels they haven’t batted smartly in the middle and one of the settled batsmen must bat till the end to get their team over the line.
SRH’s brittle middle-order led to their downfall once again against the defending champions Mumbai Indians at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai when they were chasing 151. SRH were 90-2 at one stage but after losing their skipper David Warner to a heart-breaking run-out, they once again collapsed like a pack of cards. The Orange Army lost their last eight wickets for only 47 runs as they failed to score at a required run rate of less than eight.
“I don’t know how to take that. Obviously disappointing. Two of us were set but it proves that if you don’t bat deep, you can’t win. If you get a partnership and if there is one person at the end, you can chase it down,” said a disappointed Warner after the match.
“These scores are very chase-able, it’s just poor batting. The guys need to play smart cricket in the middle. The bowlers have been fantastic,” he added. “You have to learn from mistakes and right now it is just the batsmen. It’s our responsibility at the top to bat deep.”
SRH’s experienced batsman Manish Pandey and youngster Abhishek Sharma threw their wicket away when their team was in a comfortable position. Virat Singh and Abdul Samad were also dismissed cheaply and couldn’t get going. Vijay Shankar tried his best but he couldn’t get support from the other end.
SRH relies heavily on Jonny Bairstow and David Warner and they would hope that their veteran batsman Kane Williamson recovers soon from his elbow injury. Williamson can add value to the middle-order of SRH with his experience.
SRH will play their next match against Punjab Kings at the same venue of MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on 21st April.
