“Tewatia, Miller, we need that sort of person” - Brian Lara admits SRH's middle order a work in progress

SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) head coach Brian Lara termed the franchise’s middle order a “work in progress” after the team failed to chase 193 against Mumbai Indians (MI) in the IPL 2023 match on Tuesday, April 18. Lara opined that SRH need players like Rahul Tewatia and David Miller, who know how to finish games.

Hyderabad went down to Mumbai Indians by 14 runs in match number 25 of IPL 2023 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Uppal. Chasing 193, SRH were in with a chance at 127/4. However, their middle and lower order failed to deliver as Hyderabad were bowled out for 178.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Lara admitted that the team’s middle order is not a settled one. He commented:

“It’s a work in progress. We need to have guys who are thinking the game throughout right till the end. There are some great examples in the IPL. Tewatia, Miller, we do need that sort of person to understand how to calculate going down, who are the bowlers going to come and plan properly. We’ve been working on that.

“We weren’t the best team today [Tuesday]. We have to accept that. Mumbai Indians was the better team today.”

SRH lost Harry Brook (nine) and Rahul Tripathi (seven) early in the chase. Opener Mayank Agarwal top-scored with 48, but his knock came off 41 balls. Heinrich Klaasen (36 off 16) gave the chasing side hope, but once he was dismissed, Hyderabad unraveled pretty quickly.

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“I felt we were always in the game” - Lara

Reflecting on SRH’s overall batting performance, Lara said that he felt they were always in the game, but the loss of frequent wickets hurt their momentum. He elaborated:

“I felt we were always in the game and I felt the pitch was maybe more like a 175. It was a little bit slow off the deck. We tried to stay in the game throughout but we lost wickets consistently throughout our chase and it slowed us down.

“Both Mumbai Indians and us were coming off of back-to-back victories so we knew they were picking up some momentum and I felt that today they played better cricket and came out on top.”

Hyderabad will next take on Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Friday, April 21.