IPL 2022: SRH vs RR: Williamson rues fine margins following Rajasthan loss

SunRisers Hyderabad succumbed to a substantial 61-run loss to Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2022. SRH skipper Kane Williamson blamed the fine margins for not going its way for the defeat.

Image credit: BCCI

Former champion SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) was off to a rocky start in the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL). In Match 5 against fellow former champion Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Tuesday, SRH suffered a monumental 61-run defeat. Meanwhile, SRH skipper Kane Williamson rued that some fine margins did not go its way.

Williamson said, during the post-match presentation, “We started beautifully with the ball. We had our opportunities. So far, there has been some swing and assistance with the new ball in all the games. You want to make some inroads, we looked very likely, but unfortunately, some fine margins in this game didn’t go our way. It was a perfect surface. Rajasthan played outstandingly well. There are still several things to touch on and improve on as a side for us. You got to keep your chin up and move on to the next one.”

He also blamed the no-balls for making things difficult. “It [no-balls] is not something common to us, it was a surprise in many ways, and we certainly don’t want to do that moving forward. When you take a wicket off a no-ball, it’s never nice. We need to look at areas to improve,” added Williamson.

Uncapped pacer Umran Malik drew some attention with his sheer fast bowling that touched 150 km/h. “Incredibly exciting, he’s got that raw pace. Hopefully, he continues to evolve as a cricketer. He’s young, got some experience last year, which was valuable, and I’m sure he’ll continue to get better,” concluded Williamson.

As for the match, put in to bat first, RR handed SRH a hefty target of 211, thanks to skipper Sanju Samson’s 55, while the other top-order batters contributed decently. In reply, SRH was off to a horrific start and kept losing wickets regularly, courtesy of leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal’s three-for. Nonetheless, it kept wickets in hand and accelerated in the closing stages to reduce the margin of defeat.
Brief scores: RR 210/6 (Buttler-35, Samson- 55, Padikkal- 41, Hetmyer- 32; Malik- 2/39) defeated SRH 149/7 (Markram- 57, Sundar- 40; Chahal- 3/22) by 61 runs.