IPL 2023, SRH vs PBKS preview: Sunrisers aim to sort out batting woes

Hyderabad franchise look to address their batting woes and open their account when they host Punjab Kings at RGICS

Hyderabad: Sunrisers Hyderabad didn’t expect the kind of start they had this season, especially after assembling a pretty solid batting unit.

Having suffered back-to-back losses in their first two matches, the Hyderabad franchise look to address their batting woes and open their account when they host Punjab Kings, at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad on Sunday.

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After an embarrassing 72-run loss in the opener against Rajasthan Royals, Sunrisers looked at their skipper from South Africa Aiden Markram for change of fortunes.

The Proteas, who missed the first match along with his countrymen Heinrich Klaasen and pacer Marco Jansen, joined the team for Lucknow Super Giants but was out for a first-ball duck.

Despite having the likes of Mayank Agarwal, Rahul Tripathi, Markram and Harry Brook, the big buy of the season, none of them came to the party. The below-par totals of 131 and 121 prove how badly their batters struggled so far.

Sunrisers’ head coach Brian Lara too said that they need to sort out their batting problems. “I think we are losing a lot of wickets in clumps. In the first game we lost two wickets in the first over. Against Lucknow, we lost three wickets in seven balls which changed the complexion of the game. So, we definitely have to look at our batting and come up with a solution for it,” said the West Indian great after their loss to Lucknow on Friday.

In the bowling department, Afghanistan bowler Fazalhaq Farooqi has been impressive in his last two outings but the unit was undone by lack of enough runs on the board to defend. Washington Sundar and Adil Rashid can be handy in the middle overs.

Meanwhile, the visitors, led by former Sunrisers’ player Shikhar Dhawan, are on a roll recording two consecutive wins. They opened their campaign with victories over KKR – via D/L method – and Rajasthan in their bid to win their first ever trophy.

Being on the wrong side of age doesn’t seem to bother the skipper Dhawan as he has been leading from the front. He slammed two half-centuries in as many matches.

With Prabhsimran Singh, Sri Lanka’s B Rajapaksa, their batting sports a good look, despite not having Liam Livingstone yet in the side. He will join the team on April 10. With Nathan Ellis, Sam Curran, Arshdeep Singh and Sikhandar Raza, the bowling unit looks impressive.

Unless the hosts sort out their batting woes against Punjab, it will be another tough outing for the Sunrisers who are desperate to notch up their first victory.