Sunrisers Hyderabad head coach Daniel Vettori has stood firmly behind his batting unit following their dismal collapse against Gujarat Titans, dismissing the franchise’s lowest-ever total in a losing cause as an isolated setback in an otherwise stellar IPL 2026 campaign.
On Wednesday in Ahmedabad, SRH were skittled out for just 86 – their lowest score in IPL history – as Gujarat Titans produced a hostile pace attack to seal a dominant win and become the first team to secure a playoff berth.
Gujarat had posted 169 on a challenging black-soil surface, with opener Sai Sudharsan anchoring the innings. In response, the Titans’ bowlers struck early and often. Mohammed Siraj and Kagiso Rabada tore through the top order, removing four batters inside the powerplay to leave SRH’s chase in ruins. Jason Holder maintained relentless pressure with tight lines, while Prasidh Krishna and Rashid Khan ensured no recovery was possible.
Despite the scale of the collapse, Vettori refused to criticise his batters, insisting that one poor performance should not overshadow their consistent firepower throughout the tournament.
“But as always, you have to start well, and we didn’t tonight. That’s what happens,” Vettori said after the match. “I don’t put any blame on the batting unit. They’ve been exceptional this year. Every team throughout the IPL is going to have their small blips once in a while, and ours was tonight. I don’t see any reason why they won’t bounce back.”
The head coach acknowledged that the chase effectively ended in the powerplay, with Gujarat’s relentless pressure making any recovery nearly impossible. “We always want to get off to a good start. That’s our M.O. through the powerplay. Today, even though they bowled exceptionally well, there were a couple of fortunate dismissals with the first two wickets,” he explained. “From there, it was tough to really regroup, and they just kept putting pressure on.”
Vettori also defended his bowling unit, noting that restricting a powerful Gujarat side to 169 had initially given SRH confidence. “We don’t expect our bowling unit to be perfect,” he said. “I thought Sakib’s last over was brilliant. Pat front-ended himself because we wanted to keep trying to take wickets, and that’s what he was able to do. He had an exceptional spell.”
“Maybe one over from Malinga was slightly expensive, but once again, he’s been absolutely amazing for us this year. Restricting them to 170 was a very good job.”
That optimism proved short-lived as Gujarat’s fast bowlers turned the chase into a demolition. Sunrisers Hyderabad now turn their attention to a crucial trip to Chennai, where they face fellow playoff contenders CSK as the league stage enters its final stretch. The team will be eager to put this defeat behind them and prove their batting depth remains one of the tournament’s most dangerous assets.
