"Walk in the park but the walk didn't happen" - Aakash Chopra on SunRisers Hyderabad's IPL 2023 loss to KKR

Aakash Chopra has pointed out that the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in their IPL 2023 clash against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

KKR set SRH a 172-run target after opting to bat first at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday, May 4. The home team were comfortably placed at 124/5 after 14 overs in the chase but eventually lost the match by five runs.

While reviewing the game in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra was stunned by the SunRisers Hyderabad's defeat, explaining:

"Hello Hyderabad - seriously, how did it happen? You needed 38 runs off 30 balls and you had decent batting available - Heinrich Klaasen and Aiden Markram - walk in the park but the walk didn't happen."

The former Indian opener pointed out that chasing as well as home teams have had a poor run lately, elaborating:

"How are run chases happening these days? That day we saw Lucknow doing the same thing and then we saw Gujarat doing the same thing and here we saw Hyderabad as well. A fun fact, not so funny for the home teams, the away teams have won eight of the last nine matches."

The Lucknow Super Giants lost by 18 runs while chasing a 127-run target against the Royal Challengers Bangalore at home. The Gujarat Titans then suffered a five-run defeat in a 131-run chase against the Delhi Capitals in Ahmedabad.

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"Hyderabad are not able to bat at all" - Aakash Chopra on the SunRisers Hyderabad's chase

Rahul Tripathi's overaggressive approach cost him his wicket. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra highlighted that the SunRisers Hyderabad got off to a disastrous start in their chase, observing:

"Hyderabad are not able to bat at all. The condition of Hyderabad's batting is going extremely ordinary. Mayank Agarwal, Rahul Tripathi, Harry Brook - none of them are scoring runs and this time Abhishek Sharma as well. Four guys just came and went."

The cricketer-turned-commentator pointed out that the situation turned awry once the well-set Heinrich Klaasen and Aiden Markram lost their wickets, stating:

"Andre Russell came to bowl just for Rahul Tripathi. Klaasen and Markram play spin very well. Both played spin well but first Klaasen got out and then Markram, and then gone. 38 runs off 30 balls but they couldn't chase. The situation turned bad once again."

Klaasen hit a Shardul Thakur delivery straight down Andre Russell's throat at deep midwicket when the SunRisers Hyderabad needed 48 runs off the final six overs with six wickets in hand. Markram was then caught at long-off while playing an ungainly shot against a Vaibhav Arora bouncer to cede the advantage, which KKR never relinquished thereafter.