IPL 2020, Sunrisers Hyderabad season review: Top performers, match results and video highlights

When Sunrisers Hyderabad went for 100/3 to 114 all out while chasing 127 against Kings XI Punjab, it felt like the end of their playoffs hopes in Indian Premier League 2020. The franchise had some bad luck with injuries throughout their season but on that night, they only had themselves to blame. Given their fitness record, the nature of that collapse and the three remaining fixtures against the top three of the tournament to finish the group stage, it seemed all but over for David Warner and Co.

But SRH pulled off a sensational run of results from that night and kept their record of reaching the playoffs in every season since 2016.

Sunrisers were the last team to get off the mark on the points table, after defeats in their first two matches. Consistency eluded them throughout the campaign as injuries and balance of overseas composition forced them to tinker with their lineup often. Mitchell Marsh was unlucky to have his tournament cut short early but to lose Bhuvneshwar Kumar for the season was a far tougher blow. The franchise had to make do without Kane Williamson for a few games as well. And even in the playoffs, they missed out on the services of the in-form Wriddhiman Saha.

End of the day, SRH can look back at their league-stage campaign without regrets as they achieved top four qualification.

Once again, it was Warner doing the heavylifting with the bat. The Aussie star singled out Manish Pandey at the end of the season as a positive but once again it must be said SRH were far too dependent on Warner, and later Williamson, to deliver. Pandey’s 425 runs was a good return sure, but Sunrisers needed him to win a few more matches for his side. Williamson stepped up big time in the playoffs and showed his class. Bairstow had an up-and-down season and eventually lost his place in the side on account of balance.

It also tells a story that Saha makes it to the top five with just four innings under his belt.

Young Abdul Samad deserves a mention here for his cameos down the order, finishing with the fifth best strike rate of the tournament overall (170.76). Dependence on youngsters in the middle order, however, is something the franchise would want to address next season.

Surprise, surprise, Rashid Khan was good again with the ball in hand. He finished the season with a sensational economy rate of 5.37 and 20 wickets at 19.20 is another great IPL season in the books for the Afghan star.

The find of the season, however, was T Natarajan. At 29 years of age, he is no freebie and he has been around the franchise for a while. But getting a consistent run in the side (playing all 16 matches) as a yorker specialist, Natarajan caught the attention of one and all. Most importantly, the Indian selectors.

Sandeep Sharma, who crossed the 100-wicket milestone during this season, was also impressive and stepped in well in Bhuvi’s absence.

Jason Holder was the late entry but produced match-defining spells in the matches he played and showed he can be more than a handy all-rounder in this format.

SRH’s strength has traditionally been bowling, and there were more positives than negatives on that front this season as well after a couple of below-par editions.

The Delhi Capitals in Qualifier 2 proved one hurdle too tough to overcome but Sunrisers’ campaign in IPL 2020 should go down as a successful one, given the challenges they faced.

Video highlights of all SRH matches in IPL 2020

Match 1:

Match 2:

Match 3:

Match 4:

Match 5:

Match 6:

Match 7:

Match 8:

Match 9:

Match 10:

Match 11:

Match 12:

Match 13:

Match 14:

Eliminator

Qualifier 2:

Highlights videos courtesy: iplt20.com