IPL 2021: Kane Williamson reacts as SRH get knocked out

Kane Williamson said Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) "need to improve" after they get officially knocked out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 on Thursday.

Following SRH's seven-wicket loss to Chennai Super Kings (CSK), SRH have four points from 11 matches, ending their race to the playoffs. It is for the first time since 2015, the Orange Army will not feature in the IPL's playoffs rounds. SRH have existed in the tournament for nine years now and out of which, they have gone past the group stage six times.

David Warner, who captained SRH to IPL glory in 2016, was sacked the captain earlier in the ongoing season. However, the new permanent captain, Williamson, also could not stop SRH's early elimination from IPL 2021.

CSK captain MS Dhoni won the toss in Sharjah on Thursday and asked SRH to bat. In what has already been a poor season for the Hyderabad side, they once again struggled with the bat. SRH managed to post only 134 runs on the board in 20 overs. Opening batsman Wriddhiman Saha top scored for the Orange Army with 44 off 46 balls. Their next best scores came from Abdul Samad and Abhishek Sharma, who scored an 18 each.

Reacting to SRH's loss to CSK, Williamson said,"Not quite enough runs. It wasn't an easy surface and although we didn't get enough we showed a fighting spirit in the last quarter with the ball. We need 10-15 extra runs with the bat though and we need to make those small changes. After the powerplay, we were 40-something and although you feel like you want more, it was a good start on that surface. You want to score a few more runs though, but we saw some nice contributions from the lower order."

"We need to improve. This team is at the top of the table. If you make better decisions with the bat, the final score could have been a little more. CSK played really well. It looked challenging and variable. We are back to the drawing board. Although every match is about the W or the L against your name, you do look at the growth of the team. This season has been a bit disjointed given that it was played in two halves, but we'll look to grow and build some momentum," added Williamson at the post-match presentation.

For CSK, pacers Josh Hazlewood and Dwayne Bravo did well with the ball. They shared five wickets between them, with Hazlewood bagging 3 for 24 and Bravo 2 for 17.

"I put in a lot of hard work and learnt a lot every game. It's hard to learn since there's a different team every game, but it's satisfying. Getting Roy was a big wicket, and it was good to put the pressure back on them early. The wicket offered a little bit, it was on the slower side and a little low as well. We are happy we are applying whatever we are doing in the practice. It's good to learn from DJ Bravo over the last few weeks too, and it's been a great learning curve for me," Hazlewood, who claimed the Player of the Match award on Thursday, said after the game.

Meanwhile, CSK, who had failed to make it to the playoffs for the very first time last season, have become the first side to qualify for the playoffs in the underway season.