There hasn’t been a better night and venue to bat in IPL history than Wednesday in Hyderabad as Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians produced a scarcely believable run-fest, combining for a stunning total of 523 runs – the most in a T20 match – between them at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
SRH first razed the 11-year-old record for the highest team total in IPL history by clobbering 277/3 against a hapless MI bowling attack in which the best economy rate unsurprisingly was from Jasprit Bumrah but he too went for nine an over. And then MI batters made strong response to keep the match in balance for the major part of their chase before SRH pulled things back in the death overs to limit the five-time champions to 246/5 and eke out a 31-run win – their first of IPL 2024.
Chasing the record target, MI made a blazing start matching that of their hosts with Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan adding 56 runs in just 19 legal deliveries before being separated. It was left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed who broke the opening partnership when he had Ishan hole out to midwicket fielder on 34 off 13.
Shahbaz could’ve gotten rid of Rohit in the same over but for a dropped catch from Abdul Samad when the former MI captain was on 18. Fortunately for SRH, that reprieve didn’t prove costly as Rohit eventually fell on 26 becoming SRH captain SRH’ first victim of the night.
MI’s chase was then powered by the young duo of Tilak Varma (64 off 34) and Naman Dhir (30 off 14) as they added 84 runs to keep them in the hunt. The innings went off track when Tilak fell in the 15th over, bowled by Cummins in which the visitors only managed to score 3 runs.
MI needed 93 off the final five and still had firepower left in Hardik Pandya and Tim David. SRH were stupendous in slog overs with the duo of Cummins (2/35), and Jaydev Unadkat (2/47) keeping them quiet.
Earlier, records tumbled left, right and centre as SRH smashed 277 for three, the highest total in IPL history, to leave Mumbai Indians shell shocked.
Travis Head (62 off 24) and Abhishek Sharma (63 off 23) came up with a sensational display of power-hitting, that saw the latter snatching the franchise record for fastest fifty from the Australian within minutes.
Heinrich Klaasen (80 not out off 34 balls) provided the fireworks in the end to help SRH break an 11-year-old record. The previous highest total in IPL was 263 for five achieved by Royal Challengers Bangalore back in 2013.
It was raining fours and sixes throughout the innings as Head and Sharma toyed with the Mumbai Indians attack.
Head, who was surprisingly left out of the playing eleven for the opening game, reinforced his status as one of the most dangerous batters in the game with a whirlwind effort.
He broke David Warner’s record of the fastest fifty by a SRH batter with a 18-ball half-century before Sharma surpassed Head’s feat 20 balls later by reaching the milestone in 16 balls.
Head, who was dropped by compatriot Tim David at the start of his innings, opened his front leg and hit boundaries at will, collecting nine fours and three sixes in total.
The southpaw completed his fifty with an inside out four wide of mid-off before dispatching a bouncer from Gerald Coetzee for a six over deep midwicket, prompting opposition skipper Hardik Pandya to acknowledge the Australian’s brutal assault.
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When Head departed, Sharma went hammer and tongs, mostly targeting the cow corner region for his seven sixes and three boundaries.
It was a nightmarish start to the IPL for the 17-year-old South Africa pacer Kwena Maphaka, who made the Mumbai Indians squad at the back of his exploits in the U-19 World Cup.
He leaked as many as 66 runs in his four overs. The left-arm pacer could not recover from Head’s onslaught in his second over in which he conceded 22 runs.
With the majority of the Mumbai bowlers taken to the cleaners, it was surprising that Mumbai Indians skipper Pandya waited till the 13th over to give Jasprit Bumrah his second over.
Following Sharma’s dismissal, the in-form Klaasen ensured there was no stopping to the SRH’s six hitting spree. Klaasen ended up with seven sixes with the maximum off a Bumrah bouncer standing out.
Klaasen had almost taken SRH over the line with his breathtaking knock against KKR at the Eden Gardens.
Former skipper Aiden Markram chipped in 42 off 28 balls.
With PTI Inputs
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