IPL 2023 SRH vs LSG: Aiden Markram's blunder cost Sunrisers Hyderabad despite staying ahead in the match

IPL 2023 SRH vs LSG: Sunrisers Hyderabad lost to Lucknow Super Giants by seven wickets at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium on Saturday (May 13), and virtually ruled themselves out of the tournament.

They would have 14 points if they win their last three matches but will still fail to qualify. Third-placed CSK have 14 points with two matches remaining. Lucknow and Rajasthan Royals (RR) could attain a maximum of 17 and 16 points if they win their last two games.

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) have 10 points each. RCB and PBKS can end up with a maximum of 16 points with wins in their next three matches.

KKR have a better Net Run Rate (NRR) than SRH and they can reach 14 points by winning their last two matches. It's clear that a struggling SRH will not only have to win their last three matches but hope other results also go in their favour.

However, SRH could have been in a better situation had Aiden Markram not committed a blunder which cost his team two crucial points. Visitors Lucknow Super Giants were in need of 69 runs off the last 30 balls but by the end of the 16th over, the equation boiled down to an easy 38 off 24.

Markram's decision to use Abhishek Sharma backfired as the left-arm spinner ended up leaking 31 runs from the over. With Marcus Stoinis and Prerak Mankad in the middle, Markram introduced the youngster despite an over of specialist leg-spinner Mayank Markande remaining.

Stoinis smashed two sixes off the first two legal deliveries before getting out on the third. Southpaw Nicholas Pooran walked in next and smashed back-to-back three sixes on the final three balls. With seven wickets already in hand, an LSG win was a mere formality from there.

Was giving the ball to Abhishek really a blunder from Markram?

"He [Abhishek] is a part-timer for a reason. It's important to attack the sixth bowler," Pooran said after his match-winning unbeaten 44 runs off 13 balls. However, his stats against left-arm orthodox spin has two sides to it.

He has scored 372 runs in 46 innings against them at an average of 37.2 and a strike rate of 184.2. However, he has also been dismissed as many as ten times during the process.

Stoinis, who was to take the strike at the start of the over, averages 24.3 against left-arm spin and has a strike rate of 107.0. He has been dismissed 12 times in T20 cricket by left-arm spinners.

Left-hander Krunal Pandya was next in the LSG line-up and his arrival in the middle could also have provided a decent match-up between Abhishek and him.

Moreover, Markande has been impressive for SRH this season but leaked 39 runs in the first three overs earlier in the match. Abhishek had given away just 11 runs in his first two overs.

Keeping four overs safe from the pacer was also a correct decision towards the business end of the match. Markram had to make a choice between two part-time spinners - Abhishek and Glenn Phillips, and Markande. He opted to go with Abhishek.

But undoubtedly, Abhishek is definitely a part-timer and in hindsight, Markram could be ruing not trusting his only specialist spinner in the match.