3 SRH players who flopped against KKR

Sunrisers Hyderabad clashed against Kolkata Knight Riders in an important encounter in Hyderabad. Electing to bat first, Sunrisers Hyderabad got off to a blistering start thanks to their openers Shrivats Goswami and Shikar Dhawan, who took the attack to the opposition right from the word go.

Sunrisers were scoring at more than 9 runs per over until the 13th over but regular loss of wickets and some tight bowling by KKR in the latter half of the innings ensured Sunrisers could only manage 172/9 in their 20 overs.

In reply, KKR got off to a blazing start thanks to their openers Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn. The pair added 52 runs for the first wicket in just 3.4 overs before Narine was holed out in the deep.

However, Chris Lynn (55) and Robin Uthappa (45) stitched together a match-winning partnership for the 2nd wicket that took the wind out of SRH. Skipper Dinesh Karthik stayed till the end and saw his team home to a comfortable 5 wicket win, which confirmed their birth in the playoffs.

In a game that had everything, let us look at 3 players from SRH who couldn’t step up to the occasion.

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#3 Yusuf Pathan

The hard hitting right-hander has been woefully out of form and today was the ideal opportunity for Yusuf Pathan to get back into form in an inconsequential game for SRH.

Yusuf Pathan came out to bat at the fall of the wicket of Shikhar Dhawan in the 16th over and had plenty of time to adjust to the pitch conditions and the bowling but the batting all-rounder didn’t show any of such intent as he went after an over pitched delivery from Sunil Narine. He mistimed the shot that skied up and landed straight down the throat of the fielder at mid-on.

Yusuf Pathan was dismissed for 2 of 4 balls. He failed to capitalize on a wonderful opportunity ahead of the playoffs.

#2 Manish Pandey

Manish Pandey strode out to the crease in the 13th over, when Kane Williamson was dismissed for a well made 36. This was an ideal situation for Manish Pandey to get set and launch into the bowling towards the latter half of the innings, which would propel the team score to above 190.

Pandey started the innings well by scoring 2 boundaries of Andre Russell in the 15th over and he raced away quickly to 12 of 10 balls. Just when it was the time to accelerate, Manish Pandey slowed down which helped KKR to get back into the game. The elegant right hander couldn’t accelerate and could only manage to pick up singles.

Manish Pandey was dismissed on the first ball of the 20th over, when he handed over a catch to the fielder near the deep midwicket region. His innings of 25 runs came off 22 balls and this could be termed as a match losing effort considering the opportunity and the situation he came out to bat.

#1 Sandeep Sharma

Sandeep Sharma who has played a vital role in Sunrisers Hyderabad’s success has had a terrible day at the office. He was given the opportunity to bowl the second over of KKR’s innings and this over helped KKR gain momentum into the chase.

Sunil Narine took the attack to the bowler and he smashed the medium pacer for 3 boundaries and 1 huge SIX straight down the ground. The over yielded 20 runs and suddenly KKR were 30-0 by the end of 2nd over. This was a poor over considering the fact that the bowler bowled to the strengths of the batsman and got punished.

The medium pacer didn’t offer variation such as the short ball, which has been the undoing of Sunil Narine in many occasions instead ditched up half volleys to which the batsman obliged and plundered 20 runs off the over.

Sandeep was brought into the attack in the 11th over but there was no respite for the bowler as he was smashed for 10 runs, which included a gigantic six by Chris Lynn.

Overall Sandeep Sharma had a terrible day at the office and his bowling figures read 2-0-30-0.