IPL 2024: Head, Abhishek wreak havoc as SRH post their highest powerplay total

With both teams hoping to win their first game of the season in the ongoing Indian Premier League 2024, the eighth game of the season got underway with much expectation on both sides. Hardik Pandya, the MI captain, won the toss and asked the hosts to bat first at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. The choice, though, proved costly as Sunrisers got off to a fast start in the powerplay.

Travis Head and Mayank Agarwal were the openers, but the former was out of the batting order without posing a significant threat to the score. But from the first “go,” the attacking Australian opener caused unimaginable chaos at the crease. Head-hit young rookie Kwena Maphaka for a boundary with the very first ball he faced. But all of Pandya’s strategies appeared to be working against the tourists, so that was just the beginning of the tale.

Abhishek Sharma came on board to use the field limits for the first six overs after Agarwal’s wicket fell. Together, the southpaws destroyed the Mumbai bowlers, allowing the SRH rookie to reach his half-century in just 18 deliveries. Abhishek joined the group as well, defining his own boundaries. The Punjab-born player achieved the half-century mark in just 16 balls, which is the fastest fifty of the current season.

Also read: IPL 2024: 8 Match: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs. Mumbai Indians – Who Said What?

With such a forceful onslaught, SRH shattered the franchise record for the best powerplay score in the history of the top T20 league. Pandya made the only breakthrough as SRH amassed 81 runs by the end of the powerplay.

By the 17th over, however, the Orange Army had amassed an astounding 232 runs on the board. With an undefeated partnership of 71* off 37 balls, Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen are at the crease right now. In their matchup against the now-defunct Pune Warriors India, Royal Challengers Bengaluru earned the highest team total in the history of the lucrative league, 263 runs, which the Protea partnership would be looking to surpass.