Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Aiden Markram admitted it was difficult for them to chase down 189 runs against defending champions Gujarat Titans after they lost four wickets in the Powerplay overs at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Monday. The Orange Army suffered a 34-run loss and they were knocked out of the playoff race.
While chasing 189, SRH was pegged on the backfoot by Mohammed Shami and Yash Dayal with the new ball. Anmolpreet Singh, Rahul Tripathi, Abhishek Sharma, and Aiden Markram were all dismissed cheaply to leave SRH in tatters at 29-4. Furthermore, the visitors were soon reduced to 59-7 after nine overs as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals.
Heinrich Klaasen was once again the lone warrior for SRH as he scored 64 runs from 44 balls but the rest of the batters failed to contribute.
On the other hand, Gujarat Titans posted 188 runs on the board after Shubman Gill scored his maiden IPL hundred off 56 balls. Gill scored 101 runs from 58 balls as the GT opener batted at the top of his game.
In fact, GT was 147-1 after 14 overs and looked all set to score more than 210 runs. However, Bhuvneshwar Kumar returned with impressive figures of 5-30 to restrict the defending champions to under 190. Markram showered praise on Shubman Gill and Bhuvneshwar Kumar for their prolific performances.
Aiden Markram said in the post-match presentation, “We were in the game at the halfway mark but when you lose four wickets in the powerplay, it becomes difficult.”
He added, “(On their bowling) We were slightly off, to be honest. We’ve got high-class bowlers who can swing the ball. Shubman’s innings was incredible and so did their number three. We stuck in there and credit goes to Bhuvi to show us how it’s done.”
Sunrisers Hyderabad will want to end their season on a high and they will play their penultimate match of the season against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad on Thursday.
