Abhishek carnage helps SRH pull off record-breaking chase

Hyderabad, April 12: Abhishek Sharma returned to form with a breathtaking 141 off 55 balls, overshadowing Shreyas Iyer’s 82, as Sunrisers Hyderabad scripted the second-highest run chase in IPL history to return to winning ways with a comprehensive eight-wicket win over Punjab Kings in a high-scoring encounter here on Saturday.
Opting to bat, PBKS skipper Shreyas Iyer smashed a blistering 82 off 36 balls, laced with six sixes and as many fours, powering his side to a mammoth 245 for six, despite a four-wicket haul by Harshal Patel (4/42).
However, it was Abhishek Sharma, who had been struggling for form this season, that stole the show with an astonishing display of clean hitting.
The southpaw, who was dropped twice, hammered 10 sixes and 14 fours, recording the highest individual score by an Indian in IPL history, as SRH – languishing at the bottom of the table – chased down the target scoring 247 in just 18.3 overs, snapping a four-game losing streak.
Lockie Ferguson’s hamstring injury after bowling just two balls also left Iyer with one bowler short.
If Abhishek was the chief aggressor, reaching his fifty in just 19 balls, Travis Head provided solid support, blasting three sixes and nine fours in a fluent 66 off 37 balls. The duo put on a record 171-run opening stand, making a mockery of the daunting chase.
The 24-year-old from Punjab dismantled the PBKS bowling attack with brute force. Marco Jansen was taken for four boundaries in the second over, and Yash Thakur was clobbered for two sixes and a four as SRH stormed to 60 in just 4 overs.Glenn Maxwell was welcomed with a six over extra cover and a four, but the real damage was felt by Yuzvendra Chahal, who dropped Abhishek off his own bowling and was later dispatched into the mid-wicket stands.
Having played second fiddle early on, Head shifted gears in the ninth over, smashing Maxwell for back-to-back sixes. With Sunrisers in full flow, PBKS skipper Iyer used seven bowlers within the first nine overs, but none could make a breakthrough-partly due to some sloppy fielding.
Abhishek exploded again in the 10th over, carting Jansen for two sixes and two fours as SRH raced to 143 for no loss at the halfway mark.
Chahal finally broke the partnership in the 13th over, with Head holing out to long-on. Abhishek soon reached his maiden IPL century in 40 balls and celebrated by pulling out a piece of white paper from his pocket.
Needing 60 off the last six overs, Abhishek continued the carnage with two sixes and a four off Chahal, bringing up SRH’s 200 in the 15th over.Thakur was smashed for another six and four before Arshdeep Singh finally ended Abhishek’s dream innings in the 17th over. (PTI)