IPL 2023: I struggled in the beginning and that’s why we ended up short – Aiden Markram after loss against KKR

Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Aiden Markram took the blame on his shoulders after their five-run loss against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad on Thursday. After electing to bat first, Kolkata Knight Riders posted a fighting score of 171-9 in their 20 overs.

In fact, the visitors got off to a poor start, losing three wickets in the Powerplay overs as Marco Jansen accounted for Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Venkatesh Iyer whereas Kartik Tyagi dismissed dangerous Jason Roy.

However, KKR skipper Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh steadied the ship and the left-handed duo added 61 runs for the fourth wicket. Rana and Singh scored 42 and 46 runs respectively and thus played crucial knocks for KKR.

On the other hand, Sunrisers Hyderabad got off to a poor start in the run-chase as they were reduced to 54-4 after 6.2 overs. Subsequently, the South African duo of Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen added 70 runs for the fifth wicket.

While Klaasen timed to ball to perfection, the SRH skipper Markram couldn’t replicate the same as he failed to get going. Markram trudged to 40-ball 41 and thus the required run rate kept increasing.

Klaasen scored a good knock of 36 runs from 20 balls but Abdul Samad also could manage 18-ball 21. In fact, the Orange Army needed only 38 runs from 30 balls but they could not get over the line.

In the end, nine runs were needed off the final over and Varun Chakravarthy conceded only three. The mystery spinner returned with figures of 1-20 in his quota of four overs.

Aiden Markram said in the post-match presentation, “Difficult. Had to play good cricket in the last portion but we got it wrong. Hard to swallow. Klaasen batted beautifully, I struggled in the beginning and that was part of the reason we ended up short. The bowlers were good, we were throwing ourselves on the field. The batters also got started. Tough one to take, we learn from this.”

He added, “If we can’t execute, we need to go back in the nets and plan better. These guys have played at this venue so we know what to expect. (On every game being a must-win now) Hopefully, the situation brings out the best in us. Hopefully, we can go four out of four to give ourselves an outside chance.”

Sunrisers Hyderabad will next take on Rajasthan Royals on Sunday at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur.