IPL 2023: KKR didn’t beat us, we lost, says SRH head coach Lara

IPL 2023: Chasing a 172-run target set by Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunrisers Hyderabad lost the match by five runs as it was restricted to 166 for eight here on Thursday night.

FILE PHOTO: Sunrisers Hyderabad’s coach Brian Lara in action. | Photo Credit: AFP

Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach Brian Lara said that they lost the match and that the Kolkata Knight Riders didn’t beat them.

In a post-match briefing after his team lost to Kolkata on Thursday night, Lara said losing wickets in the PowerPlay set the team back a little bit and even though captain Aiden Markram and No. 6 Heinrich Klaasen put up a very good partnership to keep them right back in the game but lost a couple of wickets at crucial stages.

“Batters should know the responsibility of winning the games, raise their hands. A little bit more on partnerships, match awareness to get the job done was needed,” he said.

“I don’t think there is any kind of weakness against the spinners who come into play during this part of the championship. Well, Narine and Chakravarthy are world-class bowlers. In fact, it was fast bowlers who took most of the wickets.,” Lara said.

“We have to be as positive as possible, inject some intent. I think the guys are responding but the batters are getting out. That is the nature of the game. Sometimes, these things don’t come off,” the cricketing great said.

On Harry Brook’s indifferent form, Lara said he was really good in the nets. “I would have to work on what is going wrong,” he said.

“We got to try to get a winning combination. In the bowling department, the guys put their hands up. Just let them down with the bat,” Lara said.

For his part, leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy who bowled the match-winning final over conceding just three runs when Sunrisers Hyderabad needed nine to clinch the issue, said there was definitely a lot of pressure.

“But my captain Nitish’s advice was to challenge the batters to target the longer end of the boundaries and that was our basic plan,” he said.

“Well, if the batter had hit somewhere it was well and fine. Our game plan was clear,” Varun said.

“It was a very important win for us from now on. It is all do-or-die matches, keeping winning, winning an away game is very important for sure,” he said.

“When we were batting, the wicket was spongy, when they were batting first wicket six to eight overs it was like that. But when there was a drizzle, the wicket became a little damp,” Varun said.