Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma showed off their batting prowess in a thrilling match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, crushing the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in only 9.4 overs. After leading their side to 167/0, the SRH openers made IPL history by being the first team to chase down a mark with exactly 62 balls remaining.
With Ayush Badoni (55 off 30) and Nicholas Pooran (48 off 26) hitting well, the Lucknow-based team amassed a score of 165/4 after being placed to bat first. But in the hunt, they had no idea of the storm that was headed their way.
From the very first ball, Head (89* off 30) and Abhishek (75* off 28) took the LSG bowling assault to the limit. Under the powerplay itself, they set up a 100-run opening stand. The assault startled and stunned the LSG camp.
The winner of Player of the Match, Travis Head, acknowledged they couldn’t have predicted to pursue it with such vigor.
We could never have anticipated pursuing it in such a manner, in my opinion. In the first innings, it appeared to be a sluggish pitch and a difficult wicket that was holding. I assume that you understand the importance of the powerplay as a hitter. Attempting to make the most of it, we performed admirably and managed to outpace the rate, which is pleasing, Head remarked in the press conference following the game.
Also read: IPL 2024: SRH vs LSG Today’s Match Highlights: Unmissable video recap, turning points, match analysis, stats and more
As the only side with several partnerships of 100 or more, SRH recorded its third century opening stand of the season with this partnership. Head was gushing about his combative opening partner, Abhishek. “It’s nice to give it a shot; it’s nice to be on stage, and working with Abhi has been amazing.” He’s an amazing talent for Indian cricket; he’s very exciting,” he continued.
With their victory last night, SRH is getting closer to the playoffs and now sits in third place with 14 points, behind the Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders.
What we just saw has all of us in awe. Adam Voges
Adam Voges, an LSG expert, stated that the deciding factor was the disparity in the two teams’ powerplay scores.
“I think everyone is in shock over what they just witnessed. Sometimes you just have to give the opposition a little credit and tip your hat. We bowled nine and a bit over at them, and it’s possible that they mishit one or two balls. We obviously didn’t have an answer for their amazing hitting and batting,” remarked Voges, cited by Cricbuzz.
“How about 2 for 20 or so instead of 100 for none? That’s the game itself; what say you? We couldn’t initially apply the same pressure with the bat because we were under constant pressure from the ball,” he continued.
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