From IPL Archives: Rating the performance of Sunrisers Hyderabad year-wise

4. 2016 - Champions

Bhuvi and Fizz formed a lethal partnership with the ball as they ended up with 40 wickets

After ending up at the 6th position for 2 continuous years, Sunrisers made some progressive changes like bringing in Mustafizur Rahman, Yuvraj Singh, Ashish Nehra and Ben Cutting to make sure they finish top this time. David Warner continued as the captain.

After starting on a losing note against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Sunrisers were able to qualify for the playoffs as they finished the league stage with 8 wins. They defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 22 runs in the eliminator while Gujarat Lions lost to them by 4 wickets in the second qualifier 2.

They faced Royal Challengers Bangalore in the final. Sunrisers won the toss and batted first. After a blistering knock from David Warner, Ben Cutting gave a fitting finish to the innings as they scored 208 runs in their 20 overs with 25 runs coming from the last over alone. Chasing 208, RCB started strong and cruised past 100 right away. However, once Kohli and Gayle were dismissed, they didn't find an able person to guide them across the line. Eventually, they ended up 8 runs short of the Sunrisers' score, thus handing them their maiden IPL title.

For the third continuous year, David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan emerged the top run scorers for the team with 848 and 501 runs respectively. Bhuvneshwar and Mustafizur formed a lethal partnership with the ball as they ended up with 23 and 17 wickets. Bhuvneshwar Kumar also won the Purple Cap award. 2016 will forever be a year to remember for Sunrisers as they clinched the title for the first time in 4 years.

Rating - 9/10