Kane Williamson's poor form with the bat has been hurting Sunrisers Hyderabad which has resulted in three back to back losses after a string of five wins in the ongoing IPL.
Captain Williamson has been opening the innings for Sunrisers and in the ten matches has scored 196 runs and more importantly the strike rate has been below 100. His slow starts have not helped the team to maximize the power play which has been 40 and has been the lowest of all teams.
Strike rate
When the team won chasing five games in a row, his strike rate was also below 100 but his bowlers had restricted the teams to an average score of 150. But in the last two games, his bowlers have gone for far too many runs and both Chennai and Delhi scored 200 plus scores which has hurt the slow start by Williamson in the back end and by the time Nicolas Pooran comes in to bat the run rate required is way above the reach of their batters.
Sunrisers now have five wins and five losses after 10 games and can still make it to the play offs if they win three of their last four games. But I am sure Williamson would realize this flaw and would push himself down the order and make Rahul Tripathi open the innings with Abhishek Sharma both of whom can target the power play and get maximum runs when only two fielders are allowed outside the 15-yard circle.
Tough call
The points table is very tight and if Sunrisers can lift themselves up after back to back losses, they can make it to the playoffs. Their next game is against Royal Challengers Bangalore whom they had bowled out for below 70 in the first outing and that should give the team confidence going in to the game.
It’s now or never for Hyderabad and Williamson will have to take a tough call on his batting position.
