Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) captain Pat Cummins admitted his team's lackluster performance after an 80-run loss against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Thursday at Eden Gardens. This was SRH's third straight loss in the IPL 2025 season, heightening anxiety within the camp as they seek to find their rhythm.
Commenting after the match, Cummins did not sugarcoat his dismay. "Not a good day. I feel like this was gettable, a very nice wicket. Left too many out in the field and then came up significantly short at the end," he said, mourning the lost opportunity to pursue what he felt was a reachable total.
Cummins suggested the squad needed to reassess, highlighting that a change in approach could be required. "We need to be realistic, three in a row it hasn't worked for us. We need to perhaps look back and see if we could have made better decisions. Our batsmen are at their best when they take the game on, but in hindsight perhaps we could have taken alternative options," he said to ESPNcricinfo.
Though the bowling unit didn't lose heart, errors in fielding were costly for SRH. "It was more our fielding; generally, bowling wasn't bad. We should have held a couple of catches and hindered them slightly earlier," said the Australian pace bowler.
Discussing the choice to exclude leg-spinner Adam Zampa from the team, Cummins referred to the conditions, which were not conducive to spin. "We bowled only three overs of spin, the ball wasn't gripping for us either. So we decided to leave him out," he said.
In spite of the demoralizing loss, Cummins was adamant that the team should remain concentrated on future games. "I will likely touch on whether we might have employed alternative options, but I don't want to linger too much on it. We return to a ground we know so well now," he stated.
Match Recap
SRH decided to field first after winning the toss and struck early, getting rid of Quinton de Kock and Sunil Narine at a cheap cost, leaving KKR reeling at 16/2. But Ajinkya Rahane (38 off 27, 1 four and 4 sixes) and Angkrish Raghuvanshi (50 off 32, 5 fours and 2 sixes) staged a good comeback.
The momentum really changed when Venkatesh Iyer smashed 60 off just 29 balls (7 fours, 3 sixes), teaming up with Rinku Singh (32* off 17, 4 fours and a six) to add a crucial 91-run fifth-wicket stand. Their partnership took KKR to an imposing 200/6 in 20 overs.
Mohammed Shami (1/29) and Harshal Patel (1/43) were the best bowlers for SRH.
SRH, in return, never found their foothold in the pursuit, losing wickets at frequent intervals. Vaibhav Arora (3/29) and Varun Chakravarthy (3/22) were responsible for destroying the batting unit. Heinrich Klaasen (33 off 21) and Kamindu Mendis (27 off 20) were the lone shining contributors, as SRH folded short of the mark.
With the win, KKR have two wins and two defeats, and thus sit on fifth position in the table. SRH, on the other hand, have fallen to the last position with a single win from four games.
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