SRH suffer third straight IPL 2025 loss as Cummins blames fielding lapses and missed chances in 80-run defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders.
Kolkata, April 4: Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) captain Pat Cummins admitted that his side was “far from their best” after slumping to a heavy 80-run defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Eden Gardens on Thursday in the IPL 2025.
SRH now finds itself in a tough spot at the bottom of the table, with three losses in four games, and Cummins believes the match was one they let slip.
“Not a great time. I think this was gettable, a pretty good wicket,” Cummins said post-match.
“Left too many in the field and then fell well short in the end.”
🧠 Missed Opportunities and Tactical Missteps
The SRH skipper pointed to fielding errors as a major factor in the loss, though he defended the overall bowling effort.
“It was mainly our fielding. Bowling wasn’t bad. We should have taken a few catches and stopped them a bit earlier,” he noted.
On the decision to exclude leg-spinner Adam Zampa, Cummins explained that spin didn’t appear to be effective on the Eden surface:
“We only bowled three overs of spin, the ball wasn’t gripping, so we opted to go without him.”
He also hinted that SRH might need to reassess their batting approach after repeated failures:
“We need to be realistic. Three games in a row it hasn’t come off for us. Our batters are best when they take the game on, but looking back, maybe we could have chosen better options.”
⚔️ Match Recap: KKR Dominate with Bat and Ball
SRH won the toss and opted to field, initially finding success by removing Quinton de Kock (1) and Sunil Narine (7) early, reducing KKR to 16/2. However, a counter-attacking 81-run partnership between Ajinkya Rahane (38 off 27) and Angkrish Raghuvanshi (50 off 32) shifted momentum.
The finishing touches came from Venkatesh Iyer (60 off 29) and *Rinku Singh (32 off 17)**, who added a blistering 91-run stand, propelling KKR to a formidable 200/6.
In reply, SRH’s chase never took off, with only Heinrich Klaasen (33) and Kamindu Mendis (27) crossing 20 runs. Vaibhav Arora (3/29) and Varun Chakravarthy (3/22) ripped through the batting lineup, bowling SRH out for 120.
📊 Points Table Update
- KKR: 2 wins, 2 losses – 5th place
- SRH: 1 win, 3 losses – Bottom of the table
Despite the poor run, Cummins is focused on regrouping:
“I don’t want to dwell too much on this. We go back to a venue we know well. Hopefully, we bounce back.”