By BD Narayankar
Hyderabad, Mar 27 (UNI) In a spectacle of IPL history, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) emerged victorious with a 31-run margin over Mumbai Indians in a record-breaking display of batting prowess at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here on Wednesday.
Chasing a monumental target of 278 runs set by SRH, Mumbai Indians showed resilience but fell short, managing to score 246/5.
Despite facing a daunting target, Mumbai Indians' innings began with aggression as Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan attacked the bowling, hitting boundaries and sixes. However, Kishan's innings was cut short at 34 runs off 13 balls by Shahbaz Ahmed in the 4th over.
Soon after, former Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma departed, scoring 26 runs off 12 balls before falling to Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Pat Cummins in the 5th over.
Following Kishan's dismissal, young batsman Naman Dhir partnered with Rohit, contributing 30 runs off 14 balls before being dismissed by Jaydev Unadkat in the 11th over. Despite losing wickets, Mumbai Indians had already reached the 150-run mark by this point.
Tilak Varma then took charge of the innings, dominating the SRH bowlers with a flurry of boundaries and sixes. He reached his fifty off just 24 balls, raising hopes for Mumbai Indians with his stellar performance. However, his innings was cut short by Pat Cummins' delivery, ending with a score of 64 runs off 34 balls, which included 6 sixes and 4 boundaries.
Captain Hardik Pandya contributed 24 runs from 20 deliveries before departing on the final ball of the 18th over. Despite efforts from Tim David and impact substitute Romario Shepherd, who scored 42 and 15 runs respectively, Mumbai Indians fell short in their chase.
Earlier, SRH's batting lineup unleashed havoc, amassing a record-breaking total of 277/3, eclipsing the previous highest T20 score in IPL history. Half-centuries from Heinrich Klassen (80 off 34), Abhishek Sharma (63 off 23), and Travis Head (62 off 24) powered their side to a staggering total.
Head's explosive innings saw him reach his fifty in just 18 balls, setting a new record for the fastest half-century by an SRH player in the IPL. Abhishek Sharma then surpassed Head's record by achieving his fifty in a breathtaking 16 balls.
Despite an early setback with the dismissal of Mayank Agarwal, Head and later Abhishek Sharma led the charge, propelling SRH to 81/1 in the powerplay, their best-ever power-play score in IPL history.
After Head's dismissal, Abhishek Sharma continued the onslaught, forming crucial partnerships with Aiden Markram and later with Heinrich Klassen. Klassen's blistering innings of 80 runs off 34 balls, including seven sixes and four boundaries, powered SRH to the historic total, resulting in a total score of 523 runs, the highest ever in T20 cricket.
Brief Scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 277/3 (Heinrich Klaasen 80*, Abhishek Sharma 63, Travis Head 62) beat Mumbai Indians 246/5 (Tilak Varma 64, Tim David 42*) by 31
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