How Sunrisers Hyderabad were caught out by Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2017

Sunrisers Hyderabad, who had won the 2016 Indian Premier League, were knocked out in a rain-curtailed eliminator clash against Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2017

Sunrisers Hyderabad openers and bowlers were expected to do the job in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Eliminator against Kolkata Knight Riders, but nothing worked for the defending champions on Wednesday night. HT looks at what went wrong for SRH in the Eliminator:

Sunrisers Hyderabad struggled on a difficult pitch in Bangalore as they lost to Kolkata Knight Riders in the Eliminator clash of IPL 2017. (BCCI)

Early jolt

Given how heavily reliant Sunrisers Hyderabad’s batting has been on their opening pair of David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan, Kolkata Knight Riders knew where to target them. KKR captain Gautam Gambhir went all out against the openers, giving his new ball bowlers an extended spell in search of the wickets. It paid off when Umesh Yadav got Dhawan in the fifth over. SRH had started cautiously in the hope that they would consolidate after settling down. But they didn’t get quick runs in the powerplay and also lost the wicket. It put them on the backfoot straightaway.

Double blow

On a difficult wicket, David Warner and Kane Williamson did well to add 50 runs for the second wicket. But they failed to consolidate on their starts as they fell in the space of three deliveries. First, Williamson was caught at cover off Nathan Coulter-Nile. It was a situation tailor made for a Warner special, where he singlehandedly takes the game to the opposition. But on Wednesday, leg-spinner Piyush Chawla cleaned him up without any addition to SRH’s score after Williamson’s wicket. From 75 for one, SRH were reduced to 75 for three.

It derailed the Sunrisers Hyderabad innings. Yuvraj Singh and Vijay Shankar tried to up the run rate but on an up-and-down wicket, it became a difficult task for the two new batsmen.

No chance in six overs

The Sunrisers Hyderabad’s success has been built on their bowling. Their pacers have taken wickets with the new ball and are known for their efficient death bowling. In Rashid Khan they have a wicket-taking spinner. But, with the opposition needing just 48 runs in six overs, and with 10 wickets in hand as per the Duckworth Lewis method, the bowlers were completely taken out of the equation. Kolkata Knight Riders lost three quick wickets, but had too many in the hut for them to be hurt by the early jolts.