KKR vs SRH: Batting or bowling? Know the reasons why Hyderabad lost badly

• KKR defeated SRH by 8 wickets in the first qualifier match of IPL 2024.
  
• With this win, KKR became the first team to reach the finals.
  
• Hyderabad had to face defeat due to these three reasons
  

In the first qualifier match of IPL 2024, Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by 8 wickets. This match was played at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. With this victory, KKR became the first team to reach the finals. In the current season of the Indian Premier League, Hyderabad is the highest scoring team in history with 287 runs. It is also worth noting that SRH was yet to get out in IPL 2024, but Kolkata got them out for just 159 runs. Here are three reasons for Hyderabad's defeat.

The top order failed miserably

Sunrisers Hyderabad openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma are wreaking havoc on the bowlers so far. This is the same pair whose explosive batting had crossed the 100-run mark in 6 overs. If Hyderabad had to reach a big score then it was necessary for Abhishek and Head to play. In the qualifier match, Head was out for one wicket on the very second ball of his innings. Whereas Abhishek could score only 3 runs in 4 balls. Head has scored 533 runs and Abhishek has scored 470 runs in this season. But when the team needed them the most, both the opening batsmen failed to live up to their responsibility.

Only aggressive play, no plan B.

So far in IPL 2024, SRH has dominated the opposition teams on the basis of its aggressive play. But in an important match like the qualifier, the players needed to play responsibly. Especially Shahbaz Ahmed and Nitish Reddy became very defensive. At one time when the team had lost 6 wickets, Pat Cummins and Abdul Samad were standing at the crease. Samad was looking in good touch and there was no regular batsman behind him in the line-up, so he should have batted cautiously while supporting Cummins. When Samad was out, more than 5 overs of the innings were left. Although captain Cummins stood till the last over and scored 30 runs, if Samad had supported him, SRH could have reached 180 runs instead of 159.

Bad captaincy, bad selection of playing eleven

Pat Cummins has been taking bold decisions so far and has been contributing significantly to Sunrisers Hyderabad's victory. But he made a big mistake in the match against KKR. There was no regular spin bowler in SRH's playing XI, due to which the team became completely dependent on fast bowling. Due to this, Travis Head also had to bowl, he gave 32 runs in 10 balls. The selection of impact players was also very poor. When Hyderabad was struggling in batting, Sanvir Singh was included in place of Abhishek Sharma. Sanvir was bowled on the very first ball. Washington can be a better option than Sundar Sanveer, who has experience of batting under pressure and is also capable of hitting big shots.