IPL 2023: We need someone like Rahul Tewatia, David Miller who could finish the game, says Brian Lara

The Sunrisers’ coach reckons that their middle order is still a work in progress and that they need a batter who can finish the game off for them.

“It’s a work in progress. We need to have guys who are thinking the game throughout right till the end,” said Lara during the post-match conference.

“There are some great examples in the IPL. Tewatia, Miller, we do need that sort of person to understand how to calculate going down, who are the bowlers going to come and plan properly. We’ve been working on that.”

“We weren’t the best team today. We have to accept that. Mumbai Indians was the better team today,” he added.

The 53-year-old also said that Hyderabad was always in the game and that losing wickets is where they lost their momentum.

“I felt we were always in the game and I felt the pitch was maybe more like a 175. It was a little bit slow off the deck,” he said.

“We tried to stay in the game throughout but we lost wickets consistently throughout our chase and it slowed us down.”

“Both Mumbai Indians and us were coming off of back-to-back victories so we knew they were picking up some momentum and I felt that today they played better cricket and came out on top,” he added.

Speaking on SRH’s run chase, Lara said, “It was difficult but we batted pretty deep. We were always in with a chance but losing wickets always sets you back.”

“We bowled pretty well in the powerplay. I didn’t see a problem there. They lost their first wicket in the 5 over probably and we lost it in the second over so that sets you back,” he added.