NEW DELHI: Sunrisers Hyderabad unleashed a record-breaking onslaught as they surged to the highest-ever IPL total of 277 for 3 against Mumbai Indians, ultimately clinching a commanding 31-run victory in a thrilling display of power-hitting that left both sets of bowlers in a daze.
Opening batsman Travis Head blazed a trail with a blistering 62 off just 24 deliveries, while Abhishek Sharma at number three added to the spectacle with a scintillating 63 off a mere 23 balls, swiftly snatching the franchise's fastest fifty record from the Australian.
Heinrich Klaasen
then provided a stunning finish, hammering an unbeaten 80 off 34 balls to propel SRH past an 11-year-old record. This monumental total eclipsed the previous IPL high of 263 for five set by Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2013, marking it as the pinnacle of scoring in T20 league history.
Mumbai bowlers were left shell-shocked by SRH's six-hitting spree but their batters came out with a purpose and made a match out of what looked like a one way traffic at the innings break.
Eventually, they ended at 246 for five in 20 overs.
A record 38 sixes were plundered in the game and it was the first time 500 runs were scored in a T20 match.
"The wicket was good but 277, no matter how good or bad you bowl, if the opposition get 277 that means they batted very well. It was tough out there for bowlers. Close to 500 runs were scored so the wicket was helping the batters," MI skipper
Hardik Pandya
said after the match.
Chasing a mammoth 278,
Rohit Sharma
(26 off 12), in his 200th game for the franchise, played some sublime strokes and was well complemented by Ishan Kishan (34 off 13) who got some much needed runs.
Tilak Varma (64 off 34 balls) took the game deep with a high-quality knock, comprising half a dozen sixes. At 182 for three in 14 overs and seven wickets in hand, Mumbai Indians were on course for something special before succumbing to constant scoreboard pressure.
Tim David (42 not out off 22) tried his best towards the end but it was not enough.
Earlier, it was raining fours and sixes as Head and Sharma toyed with the Mumbai Indians attack after being put in to bat.
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.
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 inputs from PTI)
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