Image Credit- AP Photos
They were hitting
sixes for kicks. Runs were coming in at a fast speed. It wouldn’t be entirely
incorrect to believe that you were viewing a video game. Because of the
incredible team effort from the Sunrisers Hyderabad hitters, the 11-year-old
IPL record was broken as RCB’s seemingly unbeatable total of 263 from 2013 was
abandoned during the mayhem in Hyderabad. With a score of 277 for 3, they
achieved the greatest total in the 16-year history of the IPL. However, in an
equally astounding turn of events, the Mumbai Indians nearly returned the
favour, as their batters played with a mindset of having nothing to lose. They
eventually ran out of gas and completed on 246 for 5.
Replacing Marco
Jansen, Head carried on where he had left off during his earlier trip to India.
With a four off Kwena Maphaka, a 17-year-old who represented South Africa at
the Under-19 World Cup earlier this year, he proved unhittable in the Indian
Premier League. Tim David gave Head a life when he dropped him off Hardik
Pandya’s opening ball at mid-off. However, there was no turning back after
that.
Before concluding the powerplay with two fours and a six off Gerald Coetzee in
an over that went for 23, Head hammered two fours and two sixes in a 22-run
Maphaka over. In the first six overs, Head had scored 59 of the 81 runs made by
SRH.
Abhishek had to go
down the order due to Head’s participation in the XI, and he entered the game
at No. 3 following Mayank Agarwal’s dismissal in the fifth over. After taking
Coetzee for a pull to start the innings, Abhishek gave legspinner Piyush Chawla
a particularly rough time, smashing him for three sixes in one over. As a
result, SRH scored their second-fastest IPL century in just seven overs.
Additionally, Abhishek destroyed Maphaka in his third over, hitting him for a
run of 4, 6, 6, 4 to finish at fifty and unseat Head in the record. How early
he picked the bowlers’ lengths was crucial. In his 23-ball stint, he blasted
seven sixes for 63 runs.
Hardik Pandya saw an opportunity to introduce left-arm
spinner Shams Mulani into the game with nine overs remaining and two right-hand
hitters in the middle of the pitch. But Klaasen is a spin-basher, so it worked
to his advantage. As usual, he gave Mulani a long-off slap to initiate his
rhythm. After that, Klaasen smacked sixes off of Hardik and Jasprit Bumrah,
helping SRH reach 200 in the fifteenth over. On the other side, Aiden Markram
struck a four and a six, but he was glad to pass the strike to his South
African colleague. SRH reached the fourth-highest total in all men’s T20
cricket as they added 63 in the final four overs.
In good form, Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan opened Mumbai’s response. After
forcing Bhuvneshwar Kumar to the ground, Rohit smashed back-to-back sixes off
Jaydev Unadkat, who was substituted in for T Natarajan due to a niggle. In the
meantime, Kishan smashed Bhuvneshwar for three sixes and a four to take 23 off
his second over. After that, Rohit persisted despite Kishan slogging Shahbaz
Ahmed to deep midwicket.
He blasted the second ball from Pat Cummins over midwicket and then misplayed a
pull to fall for 26 off just 12.
Tilak Varma and Naman Dhir also made sure Mumbai maintained up with the
necessary pace. Tilak spearheaded the attack as they frequently hit boundaries,
adding 84 off 37 for the third wicket. However, MI lost pace as they got
out within 21 balls of one another.