Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach Daniel Vettori admitted that a dramatic top-order collapse coupled with a wrong “assessment” of the pitch proved decisive in their a crushing defeat to Mumbai Indians. The big-hitting SRH top order slumped to 24/4 in the powerplay, and despite a fighting partnership between Heinrich Klaasen (71) and impact substitute Abhinav Manohar (43), the hosts could only manage 143/8, a total that proved woefully inadequate on a pitch that has already seen two 240-plus totals this season.
“The toss was important — we wanted to bowl first. The wicket was different from what we’d seen before, and while we had discussed the possibility of a 250-280 surface, the conditions changed dramatically. It was tough to assess the par score early on,” he said at the post-match press conference.
“Once we got through two overs, the assessment was that it was not the 250-260 wicket that this has been the last couple of games. And we obviously went out of depth.” He said their strategy was to go all out in the powerplay but the plan unravelled quickly.
“We wanted to maximise the powerplay, but unfortunately we kept losing wickets and once we realised that the surface wasn’t what we anticipated, then we needed to build towards that sort of 180 score, and that unfortunately became difficult to do when you’re 24/4 after the power play.
Vettori said Ishan Kishan’s bizarre dismissal only added pressure to the team.
Batting at No. 3, Ishan Kishan stunned everyone by walking off, indicating a faint edge, even as none of the MI players appealed and the on-field umpire was on the verge of signalling a wide.
“Ishan’s dismissal was obviously disappointing, and that put pressure on everyone coming in. When you’re in a power play situation, you still want to try and maximise those two fielders out.” Vettori said there’s a need for better game awareness and support from the middle order when the aggressive top-order duo of Head and Abhishek fail to fire.
“Travis and AB, when they go, they’re very aggressive and they take the game on and it’s led to a lot of success for us. And when they don’t succeed, then it’s the responsibility of the other batsmen.
“Potentially that’s what we haven’t had this season around. The ability for partnerships, for one or two guys to step up.” SRH now find themselves in a precarious position — ninth on the points table with only two wins from eight matches, and their playoff hopes hanging by a thread.
But Vettori remained hopeful, drawing inspiration from Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s turnaround last season.
“The IPL has seen many teams claw their way back from poor starts. RCB’s comeback last year is something we can certainly look to for motivation. Even Mumbai have bounced back from tough spots before.
“But it starts with one big performance. Barring the two wins we have, we haven’t really put together a complete show. Improvement is needed across all three departments,” he added.
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