IPL 2022 | SRH vs RCB | Kane Williamson, the biggest woe for Sunrisers Hyderabad?

The 54th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be a contest between Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Both the teams are still battling it out for their place in the final four. While Bangalore returned to winning ways with a victory against Chennai in their last match, Hyderabad has struggled with their form.

SRH desperately needs a win to stay in contention for a spot in the top four. They need to win three of their remaining four matches, and that too by a significant margin. But the reality is that the Men in Orange are struggling; a few of their star batters have looked clueless in the last few fixtures. 

One of the biggest concerns for the 2016 champions has been the form of Kane Williamson. The New Zealand skipper is not entirely out of touch; it is his strike rate that creates trouble for him and others around him.

Let us look at Williamson's record in IPL 2022

IPL 2022: Williamson has scored 199 runs in the ten matches. He has an RPI of 19.9, but the bigger concern is the strike rate of 96.14, at which he has scored these runs.

Kane Williamson is known to be a stable and consistent player in all formats of the game. In T20 cricket, he has an average of 32 and a strike rate of 123.84. While these stats may seem average, it is decent for someone who plays the role of an anchor for his team. In general, the batting lineup revolves around him.

But in this season of the toughest twenty, he is scoring 27 runs less per 100 balls than in general. This affects his team's scoring rate and leaves too much for the lower-order batters. 

Let us look at some of his performances this year.

Match 17 vs CSK: CSK batted first in the match and set up a target of 155 runs for SRH. Williamson scored 32 runs off 40 deliveries at a strike rate of 80, way below the required strike rate. If others around him had not fired, SRH would have surely felt the pressure because of the slow approach by Kane. However, fantastic knocks by Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Tripathi saved the day for the Men in Orange and not many fingers were pointed at the captain.

Match 25 vs KKR: SRH was chasing a target of 176 runs in the match. Kane Williamson scored 17 runs off 16 deliveries with a strike rate of 106.25. When Kane was dismissed, SRH were reduced to 39 for 2 in 5.2 overs. They were going at about seven runs per over, which was below the required run rate of 8.8. Williamson's knock put SRH under pressure, but thanks to Rahul Tripathi (71 of 37) and Aiden Markram (68 of 36) that Hyderabad managed to cross the line. Once again, the skipper wasn't questioned for his approach.

Match 46 vs CSK: CSK set a mammoth target of 203 runs in the return fixture against SRH. The chase demanded positive intent from the SRH openers. While Abhishek Sharma gave them a good start, Williamson was seen struggling in the middle. He was dismissed on the second delivery of the 15th over. SRH at this stage was 126 for two and required 77 runs off 28 deliveries. Williamson scored 47 runs off 37 balls and batted with a strike rate of 127.03. Despite being set, the skipper couldn't bat with the required strike rate of at least 135-140. He left it too late to put the foot on the accelerator, and the equation proved too much for the rest of the batters. Even a brilliant effort of 64 from 33 deliveries by Nicholas Pooran could not save the day for SRH.

Match 50 vs DC: Once again, a humongous chase of 208 runs and, once again, Williamson fails to deliver. In a match where the required run rate for the team was 10.4, Williamson scored four runs from 11 balls at a strike rate of 36.36. His innings cost SRH the momentum at the start of the innings. The brilliant antics of Nicholas Pooran (62 of 34) and Aiden Markram (42 of 25) down the order were not enough to take the team over the line.

Barring his 57 off 46 in Match 21 against Gujarat, Kane Williamson has been the reason for SRH's slow batting this season. His knocks are putting undue pressure on the lower order. He has failed to play according to the situation, and his team is ending up on the wrong side in the process. Besides, the fact that he is the team's skipper and there are no real alternate options for captaincy in the squad is limiting SRH from exploring other options at the top.

Being an overseas player and the team captain, Williamson's streak of average performances has led SRH to lose dynamism in their team selection. There are no questions on his class, but his recent form is unarguably making him the biggest liability for the Men in Orange.