Abhishek Sharma‘s bat swing, Ishan Kishan‘s daredevilry and Heinrich Klaasen‘s brute muscularity allowed Sunrisers Hyderabad to maintain their home batting template of attack at all costs and post a mammoth 255 for 4 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in an IPL match here on Friday. Abhishek became the first Indian and overall second player in the world to hit 40-plus sixes in multiple T20 series or tournaments. Overall he is the second after Chris Gayle to achieve the feat.
While Abhishek (56 off 22 balls) scored another 20-ball half-century and nullified Bhuvneshwar Kumar in his first spell, vice-captain Kishan found the gaps while displaying both precision and cheekiness to pummel his way to 79 off just 44 balls.
Klaasen (51 off 24 balls), probably the most consistent batter across teams below No. 3, literally toyed with a world-class operator like Josh Hazlewood, taking as many as 27 runs off his third over and the team’s 13th, as the Orange Army ensured that they would cross the 250-run mark on a batting featherbed.
The mayhem started with Abhishek when he elegantly lofted a Bhuvneshwar delivery wide of long-off to get his first six. Bhuvneshwar, who has found a second wind in this IPL, wasn’t allowed to settle down as he was flicked twice — once over square leg and then over deep mid-wicket off back-to-back deliveries.
Romario Shepherd‘s friendly, occasional medium pace wasn’t supposed to trouble the world’s No. 1-ranked T20 batter, and it didn’t. He was lofted for a couple of straight sixes, while Suyash Sharma‘s delivery was also sent soaring into the orbit with minimal footwork.
While Kishan anchored one end and showed the consistency expected from a talent like him, no words of praise would be enough for Klaasen, who doesn’t play international cricket anymore and is the most sought-after gun-for-hire in the franchise universe.
In the case of Kishan, RCB bowlers were guilty of bowling into his pads, allowing him to chance his arms freely, while Klaasen was neither disturbed by straight lines nor perturbed by the wide lines bowled at him.
The manner in which he hammered Hazlewood was good enough to dismantle the strategy of Rajat Patidar, while Nitish Reddy provided a final flourish with a 12-ball 29 not out. In all, SRH batters hit 20 boundaries and 16 sixes.
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