The first game of Sunday’s blockbuster saw Sunrisers Hyderabad go down chasing 209 runs set by Mumbai Indians at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Hyderabad’s batting problem continued to persist as they failed to chase in a small ground. Speaking at the post-match presentation ceremony, David Warner said that they failed to execute the plans properly against Mumbai Indians.

This is a ground where big totals have been set and chased down and Sunrisers Hyderabad were backed to chase down the target. But Mumbai Indians bowlers hit the right and length to dismiss Hyderabad top-order backed by an inexperienced Sunrisers Hyderabad middle-order.

Sunrisers Hyderabad drop to sixth place

The youngsters tried hard to take their side over the rope but the likes of James Pattinson, Trent Boult, and Jasprit Bumrah bowled exceptionally well to defend the target. David Warner tried his hard with a gritty knock of 60 runs but once he was out courtesy a fine catch from Ishan Kishan, it was all over for Sunrisers Hyderabad as they slip to the sixth spot.

Batting first, at one point, it looked like SRH would restrict them to under 200, but that last four-ball cameo from Krunal has put MI back in front. It all started from the bat of Quinton de Kock, who rode his luck while making a 39-ball 67.

Significant contributions from Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard and the Pandya brothers have meant that Rohit Sharma’s men have the runs on the board. For SRH – Rashid Khan and Natarajan were superb, Sandeep bowled well up front and in the death while Kaul was perhaps unlucky to be playing his first match on this ground.

We failed to execute the plans  – David Warner

Meanwhile, the four-ball 20 from Krunal Pandya’s in the last over made all the difference in the game. Speaking at the end of the game, David Warner admitted that they need to work on a couple of things. He also rued the lack of a partnership which cost Sunrisers Hyderabad the game.

“Looking at the stats, their two experienced bowlers bowled well in the middle overs,” David Warner said. “That wicket during the day is a little bit slower. It was holding up a fraction. Obviously, 209 on the board, we tried to go 10 an over, but we couldn’t get a partnership strung together long enough.

Two new guys coming in today with Bhuvi injured as well. A lot of things we can work on in training. I counted probably seven or eight full tosses towards the back end. From the execution point of view, we didn’t nail that,” David Warner added.