Sunrisers Hyderabad’s attempt to seal a playoff place suffered a fresh jolt on Tuesday, as Gujarat Titans delivered a blunt reminder of how quickly momentum can swing in the IPL. Playing at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, GT overpowered SRH with a dominant performance and handed them an 82-run defeat. Chasing 169, the Sunrisers’ batting order collapsed under pressure and were dismissed for only 86 in 14.5 overs, leaving their playoff push in a precarious position for the moment.
Despite the scale of the loss, captain Pat Cummins refused to treat it as a turning point that demanded panic. SRH had already shown strong form heading into this contest, winning six of their previous eight matches. That included a stretch of five straight victories earlier in the season, a run that had propelled them to the top of the points table before the calendar flipped to a new month. With two games still remaining in the league stage, Cummins suggested the side still had enough control over their own destiny.
After the match, Cummins framed the defeat as “breathing room” rather than a crisis, pointing to the importance of staying ahead of the required momentum early and then using the late fixtures to recalibrate. He said SRH had done enough recently—winning five or six of their last seven outings—to give themselves margin in the final stretch. The captain also stressed that the team should quickly move on from the setback and return to the methods that had produced wins.
“I think getting ahead of the count pretty early is important. I think we won five or six out of the last seven. It gives you a bit of breathing room in these last few games. So yeah, we’ve still got two games left to qualify. Again, it’s about going back to what got us those wins in the first place and putting this one behind us pretty quickly,” Cummins said at the end of the game.
On the field, SRH’s problems began right from the start. They were thoroughly outplayed during the powerplay phase, with Kagiso Rabada and Mohammed Siraj striking at key moments. Together, the duo took four wickets while restricting the Sunrisers to just 34 runs, effectively disrupting the chase before it could gain any rhythm. From there, SRH never recovered, and Jason Holder ensured the contest slipped firmly out of SRH’s reach with a three-wicket spell that dismantled the middle order.
Cummins also acknowledged Gujarat’s execution and their ability to use conditions to their advantage. He noted that the GT bowlers made the most of the pitch, landing shots and lengths that limited SRH’s scoring options. He pointed out that it looked difficult to bat once the bowling unit consistently attacked the back-of-a-length area, leaving the Sunrisers with few chances to build partnerships or find a stable tempo.
“I think they made the most of the conditions. Their bowlers bowled really well, so maybe we need to look at ways to get through spells like that, but they deserve a lot of credit. It looked like quite a tough wicket once the bowlers hit that hard back-of-a-length area and they didn’t really give us many scoring opportunities. Perhaps during our bowling innings, we could have learnt from that and held our lengths a little longer. But overall, that’s as good a T20 bowling performance as you’re going to see,” Cummins added.
With the loss now behind them, SRH’s next challenge is a showdown against Chennai Super Kings on May 18. They will then close out their league-stage campaign against defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru on May 22, with qualification hanging on the results of their remaining fixtures.
