We just let our bowlers down with the bat in every single match: Brian Lara

Sunrisers Hyderabad seemed to have made some course corrections in the mini auction, but such had been their blunder in the mega auction of 2022 that getting everything in order was going to be a massive challenge. Last night’s match against Kolkata Knight Riders was a prime example as needing 38 runs in 30 balls, SRH made a mess of it and lost the match by five runs.

That pricked head coach Brian Lara a lot as the former West Indies skipper stated that batters have let their bowlers down, who he feels are doing everything in their capacity to deliver for the team.

"We're trying to get a winning combination. We seem to be getting it, definitely in the bowling department. Those guys have put their hands up in nearly every single match. We just let them down with the bat,” Lara said in the post-match press conference.

Sunrisers had the game in their pocket till the 15th over, but there was no consistency thereafter and they ended up with a five-wicket loss against their name. Once Heinrich Klassen, who scored 36 off 20 balls, was dismissed, things moved down the slope, resulting in yet another sub-par showing.

"We keep losing a couple of wickets in the powerplay. That always sets you back a bit. We asked [Heinrich] Klaasen, who has been batting tremendously for us, to do all the hard work again. He's coming in at No.6, and we've got five quality players before him. It's always been a task, I wouldn't say uphill. 

“Obviously, the batters will know that the responsibility of winning the game on such a good batting track lay in their hands and we were unable to do it. I just believe that we have to place a little more importance on partnerships and understanding a little bit of match awareness. It's all great to be aggressive and have all the intent. But you got to use a little bit upstairs to get the job done,” Lara added.

"At that stage maybe understanding what was necessary. Markram and Klaasen did put on a good partnership, we got ourselves right back in the game with a couple of big overs and lost a couple of wickets at a very crucial stage of the match. I wouldn't say it's a weakness against spin or anything like that. I just believe that we had a game to win. We have to hold our hands up and say they didn't beat us, we lost the game," he said.

Harry Brook scored a splendid century against Kolkata Knight Riders in the previous encounter but in round 2, he failed miserably with yet another duck. In fact, that is the story of the season for Brook, who apart from that one knock, is yet to score any meaningful runs for the team.

"Harry works very hard in the nets. He hits a lot of balls, he looks in good shape in the nets. When you look at him batting and preparing for the match, he looks in pretty good shape. Harry will have to work out what's going wrong. I'm always here with an ear to listen to or give advice anytime needed. We also have a batting coach in Hemang as well. So we've got the ingredients to work with any of the players. Hopefully, if Harry improves, it will be a great benefit for the team,” the head coach concluded.