Abhishek Sharma’s blistering 141 lifts Sunrisers to a eight-wicket win against Punjab Kings

Sunrisers Hyderabad rediscovers winning ways on the back of pacer Harshal Patel’s impressive spell and Abhishek Sharma's blistering fireworks

Hyderabad: Sunrisers Hyderabad rediscovered the winning ways thanks first to pacer Harshal Patel’s impressive spell (4-0-42-4) and then to a brilliant maiden IPL century by Abhishek Sharma (141, 55b, 14×4, 10×6) as he guided the home team to an emphatic, eight-wicket win against Punjab Kings in a high-scoring league match at Rajiv Gandhi Stadiun here on Saturday.

This was Sunrisers’ ninth win against Punjab in 10 games. The win, coming off after four consecutive losses, was lustily cheered by the near-capacity crowd. And when Abhishek, who pulled out a piece of paper during his century celebrations, suggested – this one for Orange Army – it was a fitting tribute to the die-hard fans.

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No doubt, Abhishek rode on luck-first caught of a no-ball (on 28) off pacer Yash Thakur and then dropped (on 56) off a difficult chance by leggie Yuzvendra Chahal of his own bowling. His two consecutive sixes over mid-wicket in the 10th over off Marco Jansen were just stunning.

But the 171-run stand for the first wicket off just 74 balls between Abhishek and Travis Head (66, 37b, 9×4, 3×6) was just the kind of statement Sunrisers badly needed from the explosive opening duo, which was under fire till now.

Abhishek, in the process, also became the highest individual scorer by an Indian, beating the previous best of 132 not out by KK Rahul for Punjab in 2020.
Earlier, Shreyas Iyer’s sparkling knock (82, 36b, 6×4, 6×6) and the belligerence of Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh helped Punjab Kings set a challenging target of 246.

Priyansh Arya (36, 13b, 2×4, 4×6) took his fearless approach to the next level with sensational stroke-play. He showed his class, first pulling Pat Cummins over the fence and then hitting Mohammed Shami straight over long-on and over cover before flicking with grace for a four in the third over.

Prabhsimran Singh (42, 23b, 7×4, 1×6)was not far behind with some innovative strokes which saw the team score 53 for no loss in just three overs.

But soon, Priyansh mistimed a lofted shot off pacer Harshal Patel in the fourth over to the relief of the home team.
Then, debutant Eshan Malinga (unrelated to the legend Lasith Malinga) induced Prabhsimran Singh with his fifth ball to hit a slower one straight to mid-off (91/2) in the seventh over.

After that, it was captain Shreyas Iyer’s show, swinging Malinga effortlessly for a six, pulling Cummins for a six and hitting leggie Zeeshan Ansari for two sixes over long-off.
But, it was Harshal Patel’s excellent spell in the death overs with a clever change of pace which brought the Sunrisers back into the game. In the 18th over, he removed Glenn Maxwell (3) and Shreyas, conceding just five runs.

And, Shami had almost undone that fine effort with Marcus Stoinis (34 not out, 11b, 1×4 4×6) hitting him for four consecutive sixes in the last over. Shami finished with the worst bowling figures in IPL for an Indian (4-0-75-0)!