 "Sunrisers Hyderabad's Travis Head raises his bat in celebration after bringing up his half-century in just 16 deliveries against Delhi Capitals in New Delhi on Saturday. AP")
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have been red-hot with the bat in the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) and it was no different against the Delhi Capitals (DC) in New Delhi on Saturday, with the Orange Army smashing another record in what is turning out to be an extraordinary season for them.
SRH on Saturday became the fastest team to reach 100 in an innings in men’s T20 cricket, reaching the century mark in just five overs after DC skipper Rishabh Pant invited them to bat in the first match of the season at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium.
LIVE | Delhi Capitals vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, IPL 2024 Match 35 in Delhi
SRH would also post the highest powerplay score across T20 cricket, reaching 125/0 at the end of the sixth over.
Openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma have played central roles in SRH’s dominant performances with the bat in the 17th season of the IPL, and were once again responsible for getting their team off to a explosive start.
At the end of the powerplay, Head was batting on 84 off just 26 balls — the second-highest score by a batter in the first six overs in men’s T20s — with Abhishek on 40 off 10 deliveries, putting SRH in the driver’s seat from the word go and making them strong favourites to collect a fourth win on the trot.
Hyderabad had raced past fifty in just 2.4 overs, with in-form Australian Head bringing up his half-century just two deliveries later — equalling SRH opening partner Abhishek’s record of the fastest half-century of the season, reaching the milestone in just 16 deliveries.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe 52 runs that Head had collected was the most by a batter in the first three overs of an innings in T20 cricket.
Head and Abhishek, however, would miss out on a century and half-century respectively, both getting dismissed by Kuldeep Yadav.
The Sunrisers appeared set to cross 300 after reaching 158/4 at the halfway stage of the innings. Thanks to Kuldeep’s four-wicket haul (4/55) along with a tidy spell from Axar Patel (1/29 from four), they fell well short of breaking their own record for the highest team total in IPL history for the third time this season.
Spin-bowling all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed would later bring up his maiden IPL half-century, remaining unbeaten on 59 off 29 balls to help the ‘Orange Army’ post 266/7 — the fourth-highest total in the tournament’s history.
SRH finished with 22 sixes in the innings, the joint-most this season as they equalled their own record set against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Chinnaswamy.