Wednesday, March 27 was a historic day in cricketing folklore as we witnessed a bucketload of runs being scored and a number of T20 records being broken. Five-time champions Mumbai Indians were welcomed in Hyderabad by the Sunrisers Hyderabad on Wednesday. Both teams came into this game after losing their opening fixtures by narrow margins. Sunrisers Hyderabad were beaten by Kolkata Knight Riders by four runs, while Mumbai Indians succumbed to a six-run defeat against Gujarat Titans.
It was imperative for both SRH and MI to get a win in their second game of the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to hit the ground running. After winning the toss, newly-appointed MI skipper Hardik Pandya elected to bowl first. As luck would have it, the decision instantly backfired as the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium pitch turned out to be a belter of a batting surface.
Travis Head, who was surprisingly left out for the opening game against KKR, made his way into the XI and continued his imperious form in white-ball cricket. Head taking on players in Blue must have given haunting flashbacks to some players and millions of Indian fans. The Australian smashed his fifty off just 18 balls to register the fastest fifty in IPL by an SRH player.
However, a few overs later, the record was broken by uncapped Indian youngster Abhishek Sharma, who took just 16 balls to reach his half-century. Abhishek Sharma didn’t have a great IPL 2023, but was backed by SRH and was retained ahead of IPL 2024. It was utter carnage from Abhishek during his 23-ball 63, which included seven 6s.
In an IPL encounter that broke records, the Orange Army defeated MI by 31 runs, and Abhishek Sharma was one of their bright spots, taking home the Player of the Match award. Despite not playing in his preferred opening position, the 23-year-old made a big impression by coming in at No. 3 as SRH finished with 277-3 on the board, the highest total in IPL history.
After the game, Abhishek Sharma expressed his admiration for Travis Head and revealed that his chat with former SRH coach Brian Lara helped him. “I said in the previous interview too, the domestic season gives us a lot of confidence. The message for the batters is simple – go out and express yourself,” he said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
“The plan was to attack, I enjoyed batting with Head, he is one of my favourite batters, and I admire him. He told me to go for it if it was in my zone. I am happy to be getting my chances, does not matter what position I am playing. I had a chance to talk to Brian Lara last night and that helped me massively. I would rather bowl more in practice than bat, trying my best with bowling as well,” the youngster added.
Follow all the action from IPL 2024, including the IPL 2024 Schedule and IPL 2024 Points Table. Also, check Players vying for IPL 2024 Orange Cap and IPL 2024 Purple Cap
Abhishek Sharma walked into IPL 2024 after a phenomenal Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 outing with Punjab last year. He finished second in the competition with 485 runs at an average of 48.50 and a strike rate of over 192, including two hundreds and three fifties in 10 innings.
In the run chase, openers Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan got MI off to a flier, reaching 56 runs in just 3.1 overs. After both Rohit and Kishan were sent back to the pavilion, youngsters Naman Dhir and Tilak Varma stitched a valuable 84-run partnership off just 37 runs as MI scaled more than half the target after 10 overs.
However, the target was just one too many for MI to chase. That they scored 246 runs and lost by only 31 runs is a testament to their batting muscle. The defeat meant that MI have now lost both their opening games under the new captaincy regime of Hardik Pandya.
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