Sunrisers Hyderabad’s new campaign began with a thud rather than a bang, their 201 for 7 proving inadequate as Royal Challengers Bengaluru cantered home in 15.4 overs at the Chinnaswamy. Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal thumped unbeaten fifties and, afterwards, SRH head coach Daniel Vettori called it “one of our poorer bowling performances”.
“I think we understand where the game’s gone and how destructive that RCB batting line-up is,” Vettori said. “You have to get a good start, which we did against [Phil] Salt, but then I just think we weren’t at our best with the ball, we weren’t as disciplined as we needed to be, and we gave a lot of scoring opportunities to Virat and Padikkal, who played exceptionally well.”
Key facts first
• SRH 201/7 (after slipping to 33 for 3).
• RCB 202/1 in 15.4 overs – required rate 12.9, achieved 12.9.
• Powerplay: 76/1, the only wicket Salt.
• Kohli 83 (38), Padikkal 71 (28).
• Pat Cummins absent, Brydon Carse injured in training, David Payne flown in on match-eve.
Why it unravelled
Vettori didn’t blame conditions or selection. Execution, or a lack of it, was the theme. “I thought the way his [Padikkal’s] intent, when he came out, put us right back under pressure, where we should have been able to maintain a little bit more after getting that important wicket of Salt,” he said. “So it was a very good batting performance by RCB and one of our poorer bowling performances.”
Learning on the fly
“I think we learned a lot from how RCB bowled and what was effective and what wasn’t, and obviously we discussed that, but we just weren’t able to implement that,” Vettori continued. “You don’t want to have a rusty performance because of how important every game is in the IPL, particularly how to start.”
The New Zealander pointed at length control – bowling fractionally fuller or shorter than intended on a true Bengaluru surface – as the chief shortcoming. “But today was one of our challenging bowling displays. We saw at the back end when we started to go back to our usual disciplines that we could actually be effective and take some wickets, but I think we just missed our lengths too much. Duffy, in particular, showed the length to bowl on that surface.”
Selection scramble
Cummins’ late arrival had already thinned SRH’s pace stocks. Then came Carse’s blow to the bowling hand two days before the fixture. That forced Payne, still shaking off jet-lag, straight into the XI. His first over cost 18; he recovered to remove Rajat Patidar and Jitesh Sharma with consecutive balls.
“We put him in a tough situation tonight to come in, but we just thought with the balance of the team, we needed that bowling,” Vettori said. “By the end of the day, his figures were pretty good … and he showed that he can be effective even in these conditions where the wickets are really good.”
Positives and moving parts
Vettori sees daylight once reinforcements land. “I think with Pat coming back later in the tournament, Carse hopefully back soon, and Payne, that gives us some good options.”
The coach also highlighted uncapped left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey – introduced late in the chase yet tidy – as “a real asset for us this season”. SRH may need that asset quickly; the schedule is unforgiving and, as Vettori hinted, another “rusty” outing could leave them chasing the table rather than climbing it.
