Aiden Markram left ‘disappointed’ by his side’s listless showing

Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Aiden Markram was unable to hold back his disappointment as his side, on Sunday in Chennai, slipped to their fourth defeat in six matches to further stray away from a playoff spot.

After being beaten at home by Mumbai, SRH walked into Chennai hoping for a strong performance but, after being put into bat, a lackadaisical showing in the first innings buried their chances of victory. Batting first, 134 was all Sunrisers could manage and the failure was a collective one as no batter managed to pass the fifty-run mark, with Abhishek Sharma’s 34 proving to be the highest.

It proved to be far too easy for the Super Kings, who coasted to the target.

Markram claimed that his side were at least 25-30 short of par.

“Disappointed again, never nice to lose. Not good with the bat, couldn’t build partnerships and then you struggle to put a good total,” Markram said.

“We certainly thought this wasn’t a 130 wicket, it was more around 160. Partnerships weren’t there, we couldn’t build momentum and credit to them for the way they bowled.”

SRH got off to a decent start, posting 45/1 in the powerplay, but they fell prey to the chokehold applied by the CSK’s spinners. Moeen (0/18 off 2) proved to be ineffective but Jadeja and Theekshana, between them, finished with 4/49 off 8 overs. Jadeja was the wrecker-in-chief, picking three wickets, including the big one of Rahul Tripathi.

Markram revealed that SRH had clear plans to take down the CSK spinners but couldn’t execute the same, on the night.

“We knew they’d play a huge role, each person had a plan to counter them - you can either take them down or rotate strike and build partnerships. We had the plans but unfortunately couldn’t execute them,” Markram said.

Markram said that he was pleased with how his side fought with the ball, but stated that, going forward, SRH will have to find a way to be consistent with the bat. 

“We have to look in and see how to get better with the bat, one or two guys need to put their hands up with the bat. Very pleased with the effort from our bowling group,” the SRH skipper said.

Currently placed second-to-bottom, SRH next take on 10th-placed Delhi Capitals in Hyderabad on Monday, April 24.