Chennai, April 29 : They wanted to avoid mid-table congestion and move higher in the Points Table. But on Sunday, they lost badly to the team with the highest success in the INdian Premier League (IPL) history at their fortress.
That was bit surprising from Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). They are being led by Pat Cummins, who led Australia to the ODI World Cup and World Test Championship titles last year.
The star of those title clashes Travis Head, happens to be a key member of SRH. They also hold the record of highest total in Indian Premier League 2024.
SRH skipper Cummins had no qualms in admitting that acing the chases is an aspect they have to work upon after losing to Chennai Super Kings by 78 runs.
On a dry MA Chidambaram Stadium pitch, CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad fell two runs short of becoming the second batter to hit back-to-back IPL centuries, while Daryl Mitchell got his maiden fifty in the tournament as the duo carried the hosts' to a huge 212/3.
In reply, SRH, who elected to bowl first due to the dew factor, were never in it to chase it down and were eventually bowled out for 134 in 18.5 overs, which is also their second straight attempt over not acing a batting second innings.
Deshpande struck thrice in power-play to pick IPL-best figures of 4-22, while Matheesha Pathirana, Mustafizur Rahman (two wickets each), Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur (one scalp each) were also amongst the wicket-takers for CSK.
"It’s hard to put a finger on it. There’s nothing really that went to plan here. It feels pretty well suited for chasing, but it hasn’t come off yet, so we have something to work on. There’s definitely dew here; I haven’t seen much so far anywhere else in other venues, but we didn’t make the most of it. They bowled really well, so the dew didn’t factor in as much as we would have liked," said Cummins in a post-match press conference.
Of SRH's four defeats in IPL 2024, three of them have now come while chasing, including them unable to hunt down 207 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Cummins also asked for his middle-order batters to step up if the top-order fails to fire in run chases.
"When the openers have gone off, it’s been crazy, and everyone’s fallen behind. A few totals that we’ve set up well. In Delhi, we got ourselves into a little bit of a rut. But middle to lower order built back up so that things got some big scores. They almost got over the line against KKR from our middle order.
"So there have been different batters throughout the tournament that have set up. Obviously, the openers have been fantastic and here, we probably needed two or three guys to make a big impact, but it just never really got going, unfortunately," he added.
At the same time, Cummins also felt there weren’t much reckless shots from his batters, who were undone by the brilliance of CSK bowlers. "It's not just random slogging. Like our guys still pick their bowlers. It's something that we talk about - picking match-ups that suit you and if it's a green light, then you know, go for it.
"If it's not your match-up, then be a little bit smarter about it. I've been really happy how the boys have been going about it. Even tonight, I don't think there were too many reckless shots.
Cummins signed off by saying batters' are majorly calling the shots’ this time in the IPL, with the tournament witnessing six 250+ totals. "T20 is always being heard on the batting side. There are more 200s kind of games than the 120s game. The way we set up, I think that’s the best chance for us because we got some aggressive batters, and that’s our best way to win a tournament by playing like the way we are."
SRH are a formidable side and they have a champion leader in Pat Cummins. Hopefully, they would not only set huge totals on board, but would be better chasers next time. (With IANS support)
