It seemed like a six-fest at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
A total of 38 maximums were hit in the game — the most ever in a T20 contest. But in the end, Sunrisers Hyderabad prevailed in the carnage, beating Mumbai Indians by
31 runs.
Thanks to the Sunrisers batting group’s sensational exhibition of strokeplay, they smashed 277/3 to register the highest-ever total in the IPL after being put into bat.
Courtesy opener Travis Head, who hit 62 off 24 balls, No.3 Abhishek Sharma (63 off 23 balls), the consistent Heinrich Klaasen (80 not out off 34 balls) and former captain Aiden Markram (42 not out off 28 balls), the Sunrisers eclipsed Royal Challengers Bangalore’s 263/5 against the now-defunct Pune Warriors in April 2013.
MI batters did give the Sunrisers a massive scare for a good part of their run chase, but just had a bit too much to do in the end as they couldn’t proceed beyond 246/5. For the Hardik Pandya-led MI, it was their second defeat in a row in this IPL. Pat Cummins and Co. were certainly a relieved lot after losing by a narrow margin to Kolkata Knight Riders in their opener last Saturday.
Tilak Varma (64 off 34 balls) and Naman Dhir (30 off 14 balls) had MI very much in the game with their 84-run third-wicket partnership, but skipper Cummins delivered when his team needed him to. Having taken the crucial wicket of Rohit Sharma earlier, Cummins induced a mishit off Varma in the 15th over that pushed MI back. That was after a fantastic 13th over by the experienced Bhuvneshwar Kumar, which cost
the Sunrisers only five runs and further upped MI’s required rate.
Hardik, mediocre with the ball earlier, wasn’t any better with the bat either. In spite of promoting himself up the order, he managed only 24 off 20 balls at a time his team needed much more from him.
For sure the Hyderabad pitch was a belter of a wicket, but the likes of Head, Abhishek and Klaasen made sure it became unforgiving for the MI bowlers. Even Jasprit Bumrah (0/36 in 4 overs) wasn’t spared the rod, although he finished with the best economy rate again.
Just as he had done in their last game against Gujarat Titans, Hardik once again brought Bumrah as a first-change bowler. But this time, he went a step further in beginning the proceedings with inexperienced 17-year-old South African left-arm quick Kwena Maphaka.
In less than four overs, Head and Abhishek hammered 68 for the second wicket before the Australian departed off Gerald Coetzee. And by the time Klaasen arrived at the crease, the Sunrisers were already 161 after 11 overs with only three wickets down.
