Hyderabad: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma and Heinrich Klaasen register half-centuries as Sunrisers Hyderabad recorded the highest team total in the history of the Indian Premier League when they put 277/3 on board against Mumbai Indians on Wednesday. SRH, thus went past Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s 263/5 against Pune Warriors India in 2013. It all started with Travis Head. Playing his first match in SRH colours, the Australian southpaw simply plundered the opposition bowlers by hitting all over the park.
Although SRH lost Mayank Agarwal cheaply, Head continued his brutal hitting at one end as the 2016 champions brought up their hundred in just the seventh over. Head smashed nine fours and three sixes for his 24-ball 62 being dismissed by Gerald Coetzee. Head completed his fifty in just 18 balls.
However, Head’s dismissal didn’t deter SRH as Abhishek Sharma took on the mantle and raced to a 16-ball fifty, fastest for a SRH batter in IPL, to steer his team to 200 in 15 overs. Mumbai Indians did try to make a comeback with Sharma’s wicket but it was a 116-run stand for the unbeaten fourth wicket off just 55 between Heinrich Klaasen and Aiden Markram that put them past RCB’s total.
The moment when @SunRisers created HISTORY!
Final over flourish ft. Heinrich Klaasen
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— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 27, 2024
While Sharma was out for 23-ball 63, Klaasen (34-ball 80) and Aiden Markram (28-ball 42) remained not out at the end. It was also Klaasen’s second consecutive fifty in IPL 2024. He is currently the Orange Cap holder with 143 runs in two games. In fact, Klaasen’s six off Shams Mulani in the last over of the innings put SRH on record books.
“We got the best groundsmen in the world. Was an unbelievable wicket. They (top order batters) set the tempo at the front. There was a lot of pressure coming into this game. We have incredible batters up at the top,” Klaasen said during the break.
For Mumbai Indians, Jasprit Bumrah was the most economical bowler as he gave 36 runs in four overs. Debutant Kwena Maphaka conceded the highest runs as he gave away 66 runs in his four overs without successs.