The game was in our hands, admits Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach Brian Lara

HYDERABAD: After losing by five runs to Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach Brian Lara admitted that the match was theirs’ to win, but ended up on the losing side through the mistakes committed by the batters’.

Chasing 172 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad’s chase was revived by a 70-run partnership off 47 balls between Heinrich Klaasen and skipper Aiden Markram after losing three wickets in power-play.

But the dismissal of the duo followed by a fightback from Varun Chakaravarthy meant Hyderabad ended up at 166/8 to lose their sixth match of the tournament.

“I would say that we had a game to win and we have to hold our hands up and say they didn’t beat us we lost the game. The game was in our hands and we lost the game.”

“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,” said Lara in the post-match press conference.

Lara also felt losing early wickets and not being able to create a lot of significant partnerships hurt Hyderabad, with their path to reaching playoffs now becoming difficult.

“We keep losing a couple of wickets in the Power-play. That always sets you back a bit. We asked Klaasen, who has been batting tremendously for us, to do all the hard work 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.”

What has also hurt Hyderabad is the lean form of England batter Harry Brook, who was dismissed for a duck for the second successive time in the tournament and hasn’t contributed much since slamming a century against Kolkata at Eden Gardens in April.

“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 (Badani). 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,” concluded Lara.

Hyderabad’s next match in IPL 2023 will be against Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Sunday evening. IANS

Also Read: Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023: Gujarat Titans thrash Rajasthan Royals

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