IPL 2023: It did not work out for us – Brian Lara on Abhishek Sharma’s expensive over

Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach Brian Lara admitted that giving the 16th over to Abhishek Sharma did not work out for them after their seven-wicket loss against Lucknow Super Giants at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad on Saturday. In fact, SRH conceded only 30 runs in the powerplay overs while LSG scored 84 runs in the middle overs from 7-15.

With 69 runs needed off the last five overs, Sharma was given the ball by SRH skipper Aiden Markram. The youngster was smashed for two sixes on the first two balls by Marcus Stoinis but the Australian was dismissed on the third ball of the over.

However, even after dismissing Stoinis, there was no respite for Abhishek as he was taken for a hat-trick of sixes by Nicholas Pooran. Sharma went on to concede 31 runs in the 16th over and it proved to be the turning point in the game.

Stoinis scored 40 runs from 25 balls whereas Pooran added the finishing touches as he smashed 44 runs from 13 balls and thus the duo played a huge role in LSG’s win.

Brian Lara said in the post-match press conference, “I suppose you can say that now, in hindsight. Obviously, it did not work out for us. It was a stage where we had one over of spin to bowl. We always back our fast bowlers to get the job done. So we knew that one over was going to be attacked.”

He added, “Unfortunately, all six or seven balls they had an opportunity to score. We got a wicket with one of it. But so be it. Sometimes these things happen. We’ve had our luck, we’ve seen in the tournament other teams pulled off amazing victories and we got to give it for Lucknow Super Giants for the way they played right till the end.”

Meanwhile, the Orange Army’s chances of qualifying for the playoff stages are hanging by a thin thread as they are in ninth place with four wins in 11 matches and a total of eight points in the standings. However, the West Indian great hasn’t lost hope of making it to the last four and feels they should have placed higher in the table if they finished off close matches.

“It’s a situation where we should be sitting down pretty high on this table. We’ve had some close games and games that entering the final strides of the game, we were ahead. And we did not close it off. It’s fair to say we could have been well-placed in this tournament and it’s not the case now.”

Sunrisers Hyderabad will next take on defending champions Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Monday.