HYDERABAD: Aiden Markram, Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper, had a word of praise from teammate Rahul Tripathi, who in spite of a sluggish start, managed to play an aggressive game, saying that he took pressure off the batting unit with his knock.

Tripathi scored an unbeaten 74 off 48 balls in an outstanding counterattacking performance. With little under three overs remaining, Markram and Tripathi combined for a 100-run partnership off 52 balls, ending the game.

In order to reduce the problem to 26 off 30, Markram and Tripathi took on Mohit Rathee with 47 needed off 36, and they smashed him for three boundaries and a six. From that point on, the match was easily won by 8 wickets thanks to Markram's four fours off Nathan Eliis and Tripathi's final four.

"Rahul was simply Rahul, and he played a tremendous knock for us. Today, he played an amazing knock. I did chat with him, and he admitted that at first he was having trouble rotating strike, but that as he got a feel for the surface, he began to put the bowlers under pressure as usual. I'm very glad for him. In a post-game press conference, Markram observed, "He relieves a lot of load off the batting unit and his form is exciting for us as a club.

In the Powerplay, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Marco Jansen smashed past the PBKS top order to give SRH the ideal start. Before Shikhar Dhawan helped PBKS get to a respectable 143/9, Markande and Umran Malik carried the momentum in the middle overs and shook the middle and lower middle order.

It's difficult to explain what changed from prior games, but the execution on the pitch was better tonight, according to Markram, who was delighted with his team's performance. In prior games, we too had plans but were unable to carry them out effectively. I thought we did a great job today, especially with the bowling performance. With the new ball, during the powerplay, and by applying pressure, we took wickets. Then Mayank bowled a fantastic spell of spin. He went on to explain why Harry Brooks was sent to start the inning alongside Mayank Agarwal. He has played well pretty much everywhere over the past 12 to 18 months. He needs to be able to move freely on the powerplay while making shots like a cricket player.

He normally just plays standard cricket strokes hard and in the gap; he doesn't play a high-risk style of the game. We therefore reasoned that we could maximise it if he was able to do so on powerplay. That was the decision's rationale. Sunrisers won their first game of the year against PBKS, and they hope to keep winning when they play Kolkata Knight Riders on April 14.

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