SunRisers Hyderabad openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma were in the beast mode as they unleashed their carnage in the powerplay during IPL 2024 clash against Delhi Capitals at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Saturday, April 21.
After putting to bowl first by DC, SRH's opening pair of Head and Abhishek came out with all blazing guns and targetted the hosts' bowling attack mercilessly. SunRisers Hyderabad reached the 50-run mark in just three overs and took another two overs to complete 100 runs in the first innings.
SunRisers Hyderabad posted 125/0 in six overs, shattering the T20 record of the highest total in the powerplay. Travis Head (89) and Abhishek Sharma (46) formed a 131-run partnership for the opening wicket.
In a video released by the Indian Premier League on its X handle (formerly Twitter), the reactions and emotions of the SRH's players in the dugout were captured as they were in awe at the carnage by Head and Abhishek.
SunRisers Hyderabad's carnage was put on a brake by Delhi Capitals' spinners Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav as they reduced the visitors to 131/1 to 154/4, losing three wickets in 23 runs.
However, Nitish Reddy and Shahbaz Ahmed carried on SRH innings and kept the scoreboard ticking. The pair took the team past the 200-run mark in the 15th over of the innings. The duo formed 67-run partnership for the fifth wicket until Nitish's dismissal for 37 at 221/1.
Thereafter, Shahbaz carried on SRH's batting and helped the team a hefty total of 266/6 in 20 overs on the board. Ahmed played a brilliant knock of 59 off 28 balls at an impressive strike rate of 203.45.
'Another great game of cricket': Pat Cummins
SunRisers Hyderabad skipper Pat Cummins spoke on how bowlers are being clobbered by the batters in the T20 cricket of late. He lauded his bowlers' disciplined bowling while defending the total of 266.
"Good record here, another great game of cricket. Need to keep that going. There wasn't much for the bowlers in the powerplay. Got better for the bowlers when the ball got softer." SRH captain said.
"Very excited to see them batting, but got to bowl in the second half. We were really disciplined with the ball, the bowlers executed their plans." Cummins added.
Left-arm pacer T Natarajan was the most economical bowler of the match as he registered the figures of 4/19 with an economy rate of 2.80 in four overs.
