Hyderabad: A string of four defeats failed to deter the Orange Army from turning up in numbers, and they were fully rewarded with Abhishek Sharma scoring his maiden IPL century.
Saturday night saw a mind-numbing number of fours and sixes and a grand total of 492 runs being scored at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium as Abhishek took centrestage. His 141, the highest by an Indian in the IPL, shaded the breezy 82 (36b, 6×4, 6×6) from Punjab Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer.
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The SRH opening duo of Abhishek and Travis Head took the attack to the opposition in an audacious display of attacking batsmanship. Imagine Head being reduced to a mere spectator! By the time the Australian fell for a brisk 66 (37b, 9×4, 3×6), Abhishek was nearing his century, which he dedicated to ‘the Orange Army’. The opening stand of 171 runs came in just 75 deliveries as Punjab paid the price for the lifeline Abhishek got on 27. He was caught off a no-ball by Impact player Yash Thakur.
Such was his domination that by the time he fell, SRH needed just 24 more runs from 22 deliveries. Heinrich Klaasen and Ishan Kishan finished the match at 247/2 and the eight-wicket win with nine deliveries to spare should do the Sunrisers’ confidence a lot of good after the misery their bowlers suffered earlier.
As for Iyer, his open stance was brilliant as it helped in easy execution of his shots, most of them being effortless sixes. His job was made easy by the 66-run foundation laid by the red-hot Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh. The left-right opening combination ran the Hyderabad attack ragged after Iyer decided to bat on a wicket on which SRH had posted 286/6 in their first match.
The first three overs by Mohammed Shami and Pat Cummins went for 53, and by the time Arya fell for 36 (13b, 2×4, 4×6), the visitors were well placed for their third score over 200.
Shami, meanwhile, had a forgetful night. He went for 37 in his first two overs and 27 in the last, with Stoinis smashing the last four deliveries for sixes.
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