3 reasons for PBKS's loss vs SRH

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) recorded their first win of the 2023 Tata IPL as they defeated the Punjab Kings (PBKS) by eight wickets on Sunday, April 19. It was a dominant performance by SRH as they chased down the total with 17 balls to spare.

SRH won the toss and asked PBKS to bat first at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. Batting first, PBKS were in all sorts of trouble at 88/9 at the end of the 15th over. However, skipper Shikhar Dhawan (99* runs off 66 balls) single-handedly propelled them to 143/9 at the end of 20 overs with a superhuman effort. For SRH, 25-year-old leg-break bowler Mayank Markande (4-0-15-4) starred with the ball.

In reply, SRH were in a spot of bother at 45/2 after 8.3 overs with both openers back in the dugout. However, Captain Aiden Markram (37* runs off 21 balls) and Rahul Tripathi (74* runs off 48 balls) guided the Sunrisers home. Arshdeep Singh was the pick of the bowlers for PBKS, taking one wicket in his three overs and giving away just 20 runs.

Here are three reasons why PBKS lost to SRH in the 14th match of the season:

#1 Lack of a supporting batter

The match witnessed two excellent knocks, one from Shikhar Dhawan for PBKS and another from Rahul Tripathi for SRH. What PBKS lacked, however, was an innings like that of Aiden Markram, who supported the main batter and built a big partnership.

Thus, while Rahul Tripathi batted freely throughout the innings, Shikhar Dhawan had to be restrained as wickets kept tumbling at the other end.

#2 PBKS spinners were ineffective

Mayank Markande was the pick of the bowlers for SRH, dismissing four PBKS batters and giving away just 15 runs in his four overs. Washington Sundar was economical as well, giving away just six runs in his solitary over.

The PBKS spinners, on the other hand, gave away 83 runs in 8.1 overs and took just one wicket. Thus, the excellent performances of their spinners had a massive impact on SRH's win.

#3 Lack of early inroads made by new ball bowlers

While PBKS bowlers made the match interesting by containing the SRH batters well until the ninth over, they failed to take the early wickets that Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Marco Jansen did for SRH. Jansen picked up two wickets while Kumar picked up one wicket to reduce PBKS to 22/3 in 3.5 overs. PBKS could never recover from the setback and ended up posting a below-par total on the board.