Sunrisers trump MI in six-hitting carnage

Hyderabad, March 27

Records tumbled as Sunrisers Hyderabad went on a rampage to post the highest ever IPL total of 277/3 against Mumbai Indians before sealing a 31-run victory in a power-hitting contest that left bowlers on both sides befuddled.

SRH opener Travis Head (62 off 24) and No. 3 Abhishek Sharma (63 off 23) came up with a sensational display of power-hitting that saw the latter snatching the franchise record for the fastest fifty from the Australian within minutes.

Heinrich Klaasen (80 not out off 34 balls) provided the fireworks in the end to help SRH break an 11-year-old record. The previous highest total in IPL was 263/5 achieved by Royal Challengers Bangalore back in 2013. It was also the highest total recorded in a T20 league.

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. You never play for 270, but we wanted to be positive and be aggressive. —Pat Cummins, srh skipper

Mumbai bowlers were left shell-shocked by SRH’s six-hitting spree but their batters came out with a purpose and made a match out of what looked like a one way traffic at the innings break.

Eventually, they ended at 246/5 in 20 overs. A record 38 sixes were plundered in the game and it was the first time 500 runs were scored in a T20 match.

“The wicket was good but 277, no matter how good or bad you bowl, if the opposition get 277 that means they batted very well. It was tough out there for bowlers. Close to 500 runs were scored so the wicket was helping the batters,” MI skipper Hardik Pandya said after the match.

Chasing a mammoth 278, Rohit Sharma (26 off 12), in his 200th game for the franchise, played some sublime strokes and was well complemented by Ishan Kishan (34 off 13) who got some much needed runs. — PTI

Brief scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad: 277/3 (Klaasen 80*, Head 62, Abhishek 63; Chawla 1/34); Mumbai Indians: 246/5 (Varma 64, David 42*; Cummins 2/35)

277 SRH put up the highest total in IPL history. The previous highest was 263/5 scored by RCB in 2013. Never were more runs scored in a men’s T20 match (523)

38 The tie also saw the most number of sixes in a single match in T20 history, with SRH hitting 18 and MI 20

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