It seems Sunrisers Hyderabad have forgotten how to mount a run-chase: Aakash Chopra

The wheel of fortune is turning around for Delhi Capitals and the David Warner-led side put up an extremely disciplined bowling performance to beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven runs in Match No. 34 of the IPL 2023 in Hyderabad on Monday evening. Defending a modest 144, DC restricted SRH to 137/6, thereby recording their second successive victory on the back of five straight defeats. 

The spin duo of Axar Patel (2/21) and Kuldeep Yadav (1/22) were at their best once again while the veteran paceman Ishant Sharma put up an impressive show for the second game running, taking 1/18 in three overs. SRH opener Mayank Agarwal had put his team in a position of strength, hitting 49, but got out trying to lift Patel out of the park. The hosts lost significant momentum thereafter and handed their opponents an opening back into the game. The defeat also meant that SRH paceman Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s brilliant performance of 4-0-11-2 was of little use to his side. 

JioCinema IPL expert Aakash Chopra lamented SRH’s poor run chase, saying: “It was hard to figure out which team won and which team lost. In this game, did Hyderabad lose, or did DC win? There was no logic behind the match going this long. They lost the game by seven runs and you had four wickets left. I’d rather go all out by the 18th over knowing we tried, but they couldn’t even reach. Why didn’t this match end by the 18th or 19th over? It’s because they don’t play with pace. I don’t know what’s going on, but this is a different kind of chase. It seems they’ve forgotten how to mount a run chase.” 

Chopra, however, praised Agarwal’s show, saying: “Mayank was the only one who scored runs tonight. He batted well and was aggressive. Forty-nine in 39 balls is still not a bad return. From one side, you keep the team’s innings alive and his intent was good. He was struggling against spin bowling a little and got out to a spinner for the fifth time. Nonetheless, he did a good job. But what was everyone else doing? Harry Brook was opening but was that the right move for the team is something they haven’t figured out yet. Abhishek Sharma was doing well but now he bats at No. 4. If the batting order is topsy-turvy, the start itself is wrong.” 

For a squad that looked dominant on paper, Hyderabad has had a rough season, something JioCinema IPL expert Zaheer Khan elaborated on after the match. “When you start a season, you go to the auction and make a plan. In their plan for the season, did they have Brook opening? No. So, if he wasn’t supposed to be an opener, why did they let him go from the middle order and say that we need to accommodate him? But they have gone away from what the team needed. On paper, this will always look good. You’ll see and think all the bases are covered. We have (Mayank) Markande and can use Washington (Sundar) in multiple ways, either as a batter or a bowler. Look at the squad and look at where they’re on the table, it doesn’t match. The reasons are different and they will need to be figured out. They might as well prepare for the next season because things don’t get easier from here,” he said.