Sunrisers Hyderabad had set IPL’s new batting benchmarks last season, breaching the 250-mark thrice while recording the tournament’s highest-ever total. When they put up 286-6 in their IPL-18 opener, only a run short of that record high, fans and foes would’ve said “here we go again.”

SRH must learn from KKR

On Thursday night, after yet another batting collapse, the orange brigade would do well to take a leaf out of the Kolkata Knight Riders’ book. If KKR mentor Dwayne Bravo’s message to his bungling batsmen before the SRH match was the “need to apply themselves a bit more,” it has been well taken. Vice-captain Venkatesh Iyer was around to endorse and explain the ‘smart’ in their new aggression.