Sunrisers Hyderabad ended their season with a commanding 110-run win over Kolkata Knight Riders, and skipper Pat Cummins said the team had the calibre to produce a better effort but it just didn't work out, attributing the failure to the inability to graft on slower pitches.
Known for their ultra-aggressive approach, SRH began the season with a bang, posting 286 against Rajasthan Royals in their opening game, and capped it off with the third-highest total of the season — 278 for 3.
However, inconsistencies in the middle phase saw them fall out of playoff contention.
"Amazing finish. Lot of things clicked in the last few games. Amazing batting. We have the calibre, but we couldn't play any worse in some parts. Have the team to make the finals most times. It just didn't work out this year," Cummins said during the post-match presentation.
"We're gonna get wickets like this where we can max out, but others where we need to graft to 170 which we didn't get right. Feel like quite a few guys got opportunities. Really happy with the squad despite some injuries and players going out. Feels like we used 20 players."
But defending champions KKR ended their campaign on a disappointing note, finishing eighth with 12 points from 14 games.
Skipper Ajinkya Rahane rued missed opportunities and admitted that poor execution with the ball cost them dearly as they were bowled out for 168 in the chase of 279.
"I thought they batted really well. Yes, we made a few errors while bowling. The way they batted, they capitalised on all the loose balls and also hit all the good balls as well. Credit goes to SRH batters, their intent was really great," Rahane said.
"We did discuss bowling slower balls, bowling wider as well, bowling wide slower balls as well but sometimes if the bowlers don't execute the plan really well, then batters like Klaasen and all the SRH batters ... they batted really well.
"We were short on our execution part but also made a lot of errors throughout the innings as a bowling unit."
Reflecting on the overall season, Rahane said: "Throughout the season, we had our moments, we had our chances, 2-3 close games which we thought we didn't play well as a team, as a unit.
"Apart from that, we tried our best, we gave our best. A format like this, you got to be switched on every time. This format is really tough, this IPL is really tough. As a team, we had those chances, we would have been probably number one or two in the table.
"But, no regrets, lots to learn from this season. All the players tried their best, gave their best. We'll come back really stronger next year," he said.
