Abhishek Sharma's stunning unbeaten century (135*) and Heinrich Klaasen's explosive cameo (37 off 13) powered Sunrisers Hyderabad to a formidable total of 242/2 against Delhi Capitals in their IPL encounter in Hyderabad.
Abhishek Sharma's explosive second Indian Premier League (IPL) century, supported by a quick-fire cameo from Heinrich Klaasen, powered Sunrisers Hyderabad to a commanding 242/2 against Delhi Capitals on Tuesday in Hyderabad.
Sharma remained unbeaten on 135, his second-highest score in the tournament, hammering 10 towering sixes and carrying his bat through a dominant innings. While Klaasen played a vital and fiery hand, smashing 37 off just 13 balls, including 3 sixes and fours each.
SRH Off to a Flier
After being put in to bat, Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head gave Sunrisers Hyderabad a flying start, scoring nine runs in the opening over.
Nitish Rana responded with a tight second over, conceding just six runs, but the momentum quickly shifted back as both openers struck a boundary each off Mukesh Kumar in the next over.
Lungi Ngidi came into the attack in the fourth over but was taken for 10 runs.
The pressure mounted in the following over when Sharma and Head took on the charge against Rana, scoring 20 runs to bring up a brisk 50-run opening partnership.
Sharma capped off an impressive power play by smashing a six on the final ball, guiding SRH to a commanding 67 without loss at the end of the field restrictions.
Sharma Anchors Innings, Reaches Milestones
DC skipper Axar Patel, featuring in his 100th match for the franchise, delivered a tight over immediately after the powerplay, conceding just seven runs.
He was well supported by Kuldeep Yadav, who followed up with another disciplined over, giving away only eight runs.
In Patel's second over, Sharma and Head slammed him for a six each before the DC skipper got the better of Head for 37, bringing SRH skipper Ishan Kishan to the crease.
In the same over, Sharma brought up his fifty in 25 balls. This marked the slowest fifty for Abhishek Sharma's six IPL 50s in Hyderabad. Sharma also completed 2000 IPL runs for SRH, joining David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson in the elite list.
Sharma and Kishan launched an attack on Yadav as the duo slammed 22 runs in the 11th over.
Taking on the DC's bowlers, Sharma, in the 15th over, brought up his second IPL hundred. In the same over, SRH's skipper Kishan got run out for 25; however, Sharma thumped Rana in the 15th over for 23 runs to take SRH's total to 183-2.
Record-Breaking Century
Sharma blazed his way to his second IPL century in 47 balls. It is the 25-year-old's ninth T20 century overall, thus equalling the record held by Virat Kohli for most centuries by an Indian in men's T20S. This also marked the second instance of Abhishek Sharma smashing 10 sixes in an IPL innings, making him only the second batter to achieve the feat multiple times after Chris Gayle, who has done it four times.
Klaasen's Late Onslaught
Sunrisers Hyderabad surged past the 200-run mark by the end of the 17th over, with Sharma and Heinrich Klaasen at the crease.
Klaasen then continued the onslaught, smashing two sixes off Lungi Ngidi in the 18th over to add another 14 runs to SRH's total.
Klaasen's Six-Hitting Milestone
Klaasen also became the third fastest to 100 sixes in IPL in terms of innings (52) behind Gayle (37) and Andre Russell (47), and seventh fastest in terms of balls faced (1072 balls).
Natarajan bowled an outstanding 19th over, conceding just 6 runs.
SRH finished their innings on 242-2, with Klaasen and Sharma collecting 20 runs in the final over.
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