Sunrisers Hyderabad finished sixth in the points table after the league stage with seven wins and as many losses from 14 matches. They found themselves in a do-or-die situation in the last match, after having an up and down tournament. Unfortunately, they bowed out with a clueless performance against Mumbai Indians at home. Sunrisers’ first win came against RCB at Bangalore by 8 wickets.After a couple of losses, they went on to defeat KKR by 16 runs via D/L method. They defeated Chennai by 22 runs the second time the two teams met, and also registered impressive victories against Rajasthan Royals (7 runs), and again against KKR by 35 runs.
When you win as many matches as you lose, progress becomes very difficult, which is what happened to Sunrisers. They were thrashed by Chennai by 45 runs in their opening encounter, then lost to Rajasthan by six wickets. Even the struggling Delhi Daredevils got the better of them by 4 runs at Vizag. Against Mumbai in Mumbai, they were defeated by 20 runs. They went on to lose to KKR in Kolkata by 35 runs. This was followed by three successive wins. But, Sunrisers bowed out as they lost their last two matches, to RCB by 6 wickets, and Mumbai by nine wickets.
Top performers
In many ways, Sunrisers’ fortunes rose and fell with David Warner. Although the team got better performances from others as the tournament progressed, Warner remained the key throughout. Even now, he is the series’ leading run-scorer by some distance, with 562 runs from 14 matches. He finished with a strike rate of 156.5 with an amazing 7 fifties. He averaged 43 with a highest of 91 with 65 fours and 91 sixes.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the other success story with the ball. He was the team’s most successful bowler with 18 wickets from 14 games at a strike rate of 17.2, and an economy rate of 7.8. Kumar averaged 22.6 with a best of 3 for 26. Moises Henriques did well when selected towards the end of the tournament. He scored 287 runs in 9 matches at a strike rate of 136, and an average of 41. He also claimed 11 wickets at a strike rate of 13.6.
Flop performers
Eoin Morgan was one of the biggest let downs for Sunrisers. In 9 matches, he managed only 187 runs at a strike rate of 124 with only one half-century, a highest of 63. Morgan averaged only 23.3 in the series. Ravi Bopara also failed, managing just 145 runs in 9 matches. He had a strike rate of 121, at an average of 29 with a best of 41. Naman Ojha was also poor, with 137 runs from 14 games at an average of 13.7. Karn Sharma failed with the ball, managing only 10 wickets from 14 matches at an average of 33.2 and a strike rate of 24. His economy rate was high at 8.3.
--By A Cricket Analyst
