Ishan Kishan and Travis Head demolished the Royals as SRH set the second-highest IPL total. (BCCI)
Synopsis: Sunrisers Hyderabad would start the season as they played the entirety of last season, with a new face in Ishan Kishan leading the way, as a transitioning Rajasthan bowling attack faced the heat.
It was one run short of the highest score in IPL history but that Sunrisers Hyderabad came so close to the mark was not a surprise. SRH does have a rich history of left-handers who have demolished teams time and again at this ground in Uppal. If it was David Warner back in the day, it was Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head last year. On Sunday the list got added with another name in Ishan Kishan, who marked his debut for the franchise with a blistering ton.
Another almost 300
Three overs into the innings and SRH were cruising at 45/0. Abhishek whipped one through mid-wicket to start the onslaught. Stand-in Rajasthan Royals skipper Riyan Parag had a few tricks of his own up his sleeve – using mystery off-spinner Maheesh Theekshana against the left-handed heavy top order would be one. He even tried his luck with Nitish Rana but the ploys failed in front of the blitzkrieg. There was no match-up that would be effective on Sunday, regardless of bowler or bowling style. The SRH batters had one approach and it was to attack.
Abhishek did fall to the first ball of the fourth over but it did not stop SRH from scoring nearly 100 (94 from six overs) from the Powerplay thanks to Head and Ishan. T20 specialists Fazalhaq Farooqi and Jofra Archer were put to the sword by the left-handed tag team so much so that Archer now has an unwanted record to his name of conceding the most runs (76 runs from four overs) in an IPL game.
𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣 #TATAIPL 𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙮 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 🧡
A special first for Ishan Kishan as he brought up his 💯 off just 45 balls 🔥
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The onslaught was started by Head with his trademark cuts and pulls on either side of the square of the wicket. But his statement shot came when he plundered Archer’s good length delivery to a 105-meter six through mid-wicket. Once Head fell, Ishan took matters into his own hands. It was the pocket-size dynamo at his full-flowing best, carving the ball with a slash of his blade. Regardless of what length, or what pace they would bowl – be it full, short, quick, or slow – Ishan would put his weight on the back foot and pick the length early to access the area of the ground he wanted to deposit the ball into.
It might sound like a cliche with teams playing in Hyderabad, but once again the score could have ballooned to 300. If it weren’t for Tushar Deshpande’s smarts in the middle overs, the Royals very well might have been chasing a record score. He picked up three wickets to pump a break of sorts in that Hyderabad innings. Despite Head falling after a 39-ball 85-run partnership with Ishan, the likes of Nitish Kumar Reddy and Henrich Klassen, did their bit to take the score to 286/6.
The chase which never started
Chasing 287 runs, Rajasthan Royals lost three wickets in the powerplay. Simarjeet Singh, who plied his trade in Chennai Super Kings earlier, caused the early bit of damage for SRH with his extreme pace. A 145.4 KPH bumper would be the delivery to get Riyan Parag’s wicket and then Yashavi Jaiswal, who would usually cut a short, wide ball for a boundary for breakfast, lunch and dinner, was hurried on by Simarjeet’s pace and hit it straight to the point fielder. Seasoned campaigner Nitish Rana would soon perish as well to Mohammed Shami’s delivery, adding further misery to the Royals in their chase.
By this time the result of the game became quite evident. Sanju Samson, who came in as an impact sub to bat, due to a finger injury, would still look as fluent as accustomed to. Samson partnered with Dhruv Jurel to save the blushes. Jurel displayed some cracking shots during his stay. The one he carved behind the wicket through the third-man region for a six using Simarjeet’s pace was a collector’s item. However, after scoring a 35-ball 70 he would perish to Adam Zampa’s bowling. Samson too had earlier departed to a slower bouncer from Harshal Patel.
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Once the duo departed, it seemed like a net session for both Shimron Hetmeyar and Shubham Dubey. They inflicted some damage on the SRH bowlers with their 34-ball 80-run partnership. SRH Skipper Pat Cummins, who is making a comeback after an injury layoff, looked a bit rusty with his bowling, conceding 60 runs from his four overs.
