'That was insane': SRH captain Pat Cummins after high-scoring contest vs MI

Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Pat Cummins could only use one word to perfectly describe his team’s win over Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Wednesday. Cummins called the clash, which produced 523 runs, as ‘insane’.

In a game of firsts, SRH smashed 277/3, the highest total in IPL history. MI then put together 246/5 for the biggest total batting second in the league. For the first time, 500 run mark was breached in an IPL game, including a record 38 sixes.

“That was insane. The ball was really pinging around. Not until we bowled, it got a bit too close for comfort. They found a boundary whenever they needed it, but we finished it off well,” said Cummins in the post-match presentation.

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It was a batting beauty but Cummins did not expect such a big total. “You never play for 270, but we wanted to be positive and be aggressive, take the game on. It was a good wicket, so we have to suck it up knowing we would go for a few boundaries.

“What’s important is to have clear plans with the ball. There was amazing atmosphere in the ground, enjoyed playing here, was incredibly loud,” said the skipper after SRH’s first win of the season.

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Opposition skipper Hardik Pandya acknowledged the opposition batters for putting the game beyond them though his team put up a spirited fight with the bat. “Wicket was good, 277 no matter how bad or good you bowl, if the opposition has to score that much, they have batted well,” said Pandya.

Barring Jasprit Bumrah, all Mumbai bowlers leaked more than 10 runs an over. 17-year-old debutant Kwena Maphaka conceded 66 runs in his four overs. “They (the bowlers) were good, it was tough out there, almost 500 runs were scored and the wicket was helping the batters, we could have done a few things here and there, but having said that, we have a young bowling attack and we will learn.

“If the ball goes this many times into the crowd, you will need time to get the overs done. Everyone (the batters) looked good and it is just a matter of time before we put things right,” said Pandya.

He backed Maphaka to come good in the next game. “He (Kwena Maphaka) was fantastic, coming into his first game and getting overwhelmed, he was alright and backed his skillset, just needs some game time,” added the Mumbai Indians skipper.

‘Team management’s message to go out and express yourself’: Abhishek Sharma

SRH’s Abhishek Sharma said the message from the team management was pretty simple “go out and express yourself”. Upfront, Hyderabad produced scintillating exhibition of power-hitting with Travis Head (62 off 24) and Sharma (63 off 23). Abhishek registered the team's record for fastest IPL fifty. Heinrich Klaasen (80 not out off 34 balls) provided the fireworks towards the end.

“To be honest I didn’t realise that it was the fastest fifty for SRH and for this year. I just wanted to go and express myself and after getting out I realised that it was the quickest. I enjoyed it,” said ‘Man of the Match’ Sharma.

“I think the message was pretty much simple for all the batters in the meeting we had before this match. ‘Everyone just go and express yourself’. That’s a very positive message if you get it from your captain and coach. That’s really supportive for all the batters.”

Sharma and Head stitched 68 runs off just 22 balls for the second wicket for SRH. “I was batting with Travis and he is one of my favourite batters. I really enjoyed batting with him,” Sharma said.

Sharma said despite the huge target, it wasn’t a cakewalk for SRH as MI came pretty close. Tilak Varma (64 off 34 balls) took the game deep with a high-quality knock, comprising half-a-dozen sixes. Towards the end, Tim David (42 not out off 22) tried his best to take MI close but it wasn’t enough.

“When Tilak Varma, Hardik bhai and even Tim David were batting, we were still a bit, I won’t say worried but concerned. The way they were playing it was very good but we knew our bowlers were very much prepared for this kind of situation and they executed really well,” Sharma said.

Tim David said the team were confident of chasing the target down at the halfway stage. “It would have been pretty good as a spectator if you are sitting home or in the stands it was very entertaining, amazing match.

“We believe in our batting unit. We chased some high scores last year. The talk was let’s just stick to our process and we were keeping up with the rate at a certain point of time. Although we didn’t get the runs it was a great batting performance from us too,” he said.

The Australian, however, credited SRH for their all-round show. “Credit to SRH, they bowled pretty well at the end, took the pace off the ball on a slowing pitch, it was pretty hard to hit. But everything has to go right if you are to chase 278, that didn’t quite happen but we got pretty close,” David said.

“They played some amazing shots, credit to their batsmen for putting the pressure on any bowler. There is nothing much you can do to stop them if they play good shots. You got to take (your) hat off when someone plays well.”