‘We were not at our best with the ball’: SRH coach Vettori after defeat in IPL opener. (Annie’s photo)
New Delhi: Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach Daniel Vettori did not mince his words after his side’s defeat in the opening match of IPL 2026, terming the bowling effort “one of our weakest performances” after the six-wicket loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Saturday.Go beyond boundaries with our YouTube channel. Subscribe now!Despite posting a competitive 201/9 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, SRH were left chasing shadows as RCB stormed home in just 15.4 overs, powered by Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal.
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Vettori admitted that the match went downhill after an early breakthrough, with SRH failing to maintain control. “You have to get off to a good start, which we did against (Phil) Salt, but we weren’t at our best with the ball. We weren’t as disciplined as we should be,” he said.
The former New Zealand captain highlighted how the bowlers allowed a lot of scoring chances. “We gave a lot of scoring chances to Virat and Padikkal, who played very well,” he added.Even after VeilSalt was removed early, SRH was unable to increase the pressure. “We should have been able to maintain more discipline after that wicket,” Vettori noted, stressing that inconsistency in length had proven costly.
Wasted lengths, wasted opportunityVettori pointed to execution as the key difference, especially after observing how effective RCB bowled. “We learned a lot from RCB’s way of playing… but we couldn’t execute it,” he said.He singled out newcomer Jacob Duffy for setting the standard. “Duffy in particular showed length to bowl on that surface,” Vettori said, comparing that to SRH’s inability to consistently hit the right areas.“We missed our lengths a lot. Today was one of our tough bowling performances,” he admitted, adding that SRH could only find some rhythm in the end.200 is no longer enough in ChinnaswamyVettori also acknowledged that 200 is no longer a safe total on hitter-friendly surfaces. “Two years ago you might have thought 200 was safe, but we understand where the game has gone and how devastating RCB’s batting line-up is,” he said.While his bowling came under scrutiny, Vettori backed his batting unit, highlighting the contributions of players like Aniket Verma and the depth in the top order.With young bowlers like David Payne and Harsh Dubey continuing to find their feet, SRH will look to regroup quickly.