Ashish Nehra's Absence Huge Factor in SRH's Defeat To DD in IPL, Says Eoin Morgan

Sunrisers Hyderabad batsman Eoin Morgan said absence of paceman Ashish Nehra hurt them badly as they suffered a narrow defeat against Delhi Daredevils.

Nehra, who made an impact this season with his consistent line and length and speed, has been ruled out of the IPL with a hamstring injury.

"Obviously it was a big blow missing Ashish. He was injured after the first game of Bangalore. So (Barinder) Sran came in then and did really well. It was a quite easy transition for him. Today he took wickets for us.. so whole credit to him," Morgan said at the post match conference here.

The England cricketer also felt that his team missed opportunities.

"Yes we had chances... I mean the tough lesson learned," he said.

Daredevils defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by six wickets in their crucial Indian Premier League match here at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium last night.

On a query over David Warner's captaincy, Morgan said, "...every individual has his own unique way of leading and David is a little bit different to mine. But David works, certainly I believe in, mine works. So simple, to do what you believe in and what is your strength..."

On being asked about lack of power hitting in the middle overs, Morgan said, " Probably 160 was a par score. I think we did finish well. We have plenty of power hitters, if you look at the middle order Henriques, Yuvi (Yuvraj Singh) and myself right down."

Delhi Daredevils batsman Karun Nair, who smashed a blistering 83 to help his side to chase down 159, said it was one of his best innings.

"It is one of the best knocks I can say because I was able to pull the team through and took it at the end and stay not out," Nair said.

"It was really a good pitch to bat on. I wanted to play normal cricket shots and just tried to hit the gaps. Lucky that everything I did went in the gaps and I am happy that the team won," he added.

He said 160 was a good score on the Raipur ground.

"Although it was a good wicket but still it is a big outfield and the score was like 180 and 185 on a normal ground."

Over question on his strategy in the last over, he said, "I was just thinking of getting that one boundary. In two balls we needed to get one boundary. There was nothing going on in my mind apart from staying positive and staying still."