The stars were not aligned for the Sunrisers Hyderabad as they lost the direct entry to the final after losing to the Kolkata Knight Riders. Hyderabad's blazing openers, Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma, lost their wicket early, which crippled the batters' momentum. SRH powered through to put up 159 runs, but the target was a cakewalk for the Knight Riders. After the match, Sunrisers skipper Pat Cummins said that he wants the team to move on from the forgetful loss, and instead keep their focus on the second IPL qualifier, affirming that there are a few days in the limited-over format that it just doesn't work out.  

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Pat Cummins wants SRH to forget the loss to KKR and focus on IPL Qualifier 2

Pat Cummins, the captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad, asked his players to put the crushing loss to the Kolkata Knight Riders behind them and focus on the second IPL qualifier. Tuesday in Qualifier 1 at the Narendra Modi Stadium saw KKR thrash SRH by eight wickets, with their bowling attack at its greatest.

"We will try to put this day behind quickly, good thing we will have a crack at it [Qualifier 2]. You have these days in T20 cricket when it doesn't work out. We had a few starts but didn't go on with the bat. Not good with the ball. We weren't where we wanted with the bat and obviously couldn't do much with the ball.

"We all have played enough cricket, and going to a new venue [Chepauk] helps us as well, so we got to keep this behind and move on," Cummins said at the post-match presentation ceremony. 

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About the game, SRH's explosive openers yielded after they lost their wickets, but Hyderabad was able to score 159 against the KKR bowling attack, setting Kolkata a target of 160 runs. The Australian pacer, Mitchell Starc, got three wickets in the power play, and every bowler for the Knights claimed a wicket as he spearheaded the bowling attack that dominated the SRH hitters. The Knight Riders have advanced to the championship game. In the third playoff eliminator, the Pat Cummins-led team will take on the victor of the Rajasthan Royals vs. Royal Challengers Bengaluru match.

(With PTI Inputs)