We need to drag partnerships slightly longer: SRH skipper Markram after loss to KKR

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], May 5 (ANI): After losing against Kolkata Knight Riders by five runs in the last over, Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Aiden Markram praised Heinrich Klaasen's innings and said that the player took the pressure from him with his batting.
"I struggled quite a bit upfront and partially quite a big reason for us coming up short I believe. I thought we played good cricket for a large portion of that game but unfortunately in the crunch times we got it wrong.
"So it is a difficult one to swallow. Klaasy batted beautifully. I struggled quite a bit upfront and partially quite a big reason for us coming up short I believe. But Klaasen played well, took a bit of pressure off me and then I could eventually find my feet. But those partnerships, we need to drag out slightly longer and those partnerships are the ones that win you the game," Markram said.
"I thought the bowlers were good. Guys threw themselves around in the field which was good to see and then with the bat, we set up some partnerships but at the end of it, those partnerships were not enough to get us across the line. You would rather get it wrong trying to be aggressive. Ultimately guys have played enough cricket to know when is the right time and we'll keep backing them and their decision-making. Hopefully, it's a situation that brings out the best in us. I thought we played a lot of great cricket tonight so to not get two points is not ideal and not great. But there's a bit of confidence we can take from tonight and get four out of four," he added.
Coming to the match, KKR opted to bat first after opting to bat first.
They could post 171/9 in their 20 overs. Rinku Singh (46 in 35 balls), Nitish (42 in 31 balls) and Andre Russell (24 in 15 balls) were among the standout batters for KKR.
Marco Jansen (2/24) and T Natrajan (2/30) were the standout bowlers for SRH. Aiden Markram, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Markande and Kartik Tyagi got a wicket each.
Chasing 172, SRH lost four wickets for 54 runs, but a 70-run stand between skipper Markram (41 in 40 balls) and Klaasen (36 in 20 balls) pulled SRH back into the match. However, KKR bowlers held their nerves in death overs to deny their opponents a win.
Shardul Thakur (2/23) and Vaibhav Arora (2/32) impressed with their bowling. Andre Russell, Anukul Roy, Varun Chakravarty and Harshit Rana got a wicket each.
For his spell of 1/20, Varun was given the 'Man of the Match' award.
KKR are in the eighth position with four wins and six losses. They have a total of eight points. SRH are in ninth position with three wins and six losses. They have a total of six points.
Brief scores: Kolkata Knight Riders: 171/9 (Rinku Singh 46, Nitish Rana 42, T Natarajan 2/30) won against Sunrisers Hyderabad: 166/8 (Aiden Markram 41, Heinrich Klaasen 36, Shardul Thakur 2/23). (ANI)