Local boy Tilak Varma scored an incredible 64 off 34 balls, but it was all in vain as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians 31 runs to start IPL 2024 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. Sunrisers Hyderabad’s victory was the result of an incredible six-hitting run feast.
Following explosive half-centuries from Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, and Heinrich Klassen that enabled SRH rack up an incredible 277/3, the biggest score in the history of the competition, MI looked to complete the chase with the support of Tilak and other hitters.
To limit MI to 246/5, however, SRH’s bowlers excelled by not offering any pace and controlling the scoring rate in the middle overs. This is MI’s second loss in a game that saw a lot of records fall in front of 35,080 spectators. They will be questioned about their drab bowling and lineup changes, as well as about the performance and judgement of captain Hardik Pandya.
Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma missed the mark right away while chasing an enormous 278. As MI reached 50/0 in the third over, Kishan struck Bhuvneshwar Kumar for three maximums and a four, while Rohit hammered Unadkat for two leg-side sixes in the second over.
But Kishan was forced to slog-sweeping to deep mid-wicket and fell for a 13-ball 34 as Shahbaz Ahmed struck with his second ball of the fourth over. Abdul Samad dropped Rohit in the middle of the game, but he was unable to take advantage of the break as Pat Cummins’ backward square leg snagged his top edge on the pull.
To keep MI in the hunt for a huge chase, Naman Dhir and Tilak Varma started to deal in smacking sixes off SRH’s bowlers on a regular basis. The most memorable moment occurred in the tenth over, when Tilak swept, switch-hit, and scooped Shahbaz for three sixes. He then smashed Jaydev Unadkat for a four through extra cover to get his fifty in twenty-four balls.
Dhir hit a straight shot to extra cover off Unadkat, ending the third wicket stand of 84 runs off 37 balls. Following the tactical timeout, Tilak and Hardik Pandya both hit three boundaries before the former was caught at long-on after being duped by a slower delivery from Cummins.
Before Tim David flicked, sliced, and crushed Bhuvneshwar for a four and two sixes, MI went 20 balls without a boundary. Unadkat was struck for six and four times by David, but the bowler recovered when Hardik Pandya top-edged a pull to the keeper behind.
Impact Player Romario Shepherd smashed two fours and a six in the last over, but it was not enough to stop SRH from winning in a run-riot of a match that featured the most sixes ever hit in a Twenty20 competition and the highest total number of runs scored.
Brief Scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 277/3 in 20 overs (Piyush Chawla 1-34, Hardik Pandya 1-46) defeated Mumbai Indians 246/5 in 20 overs (Tilak Varma 64, Tim David 42 not out; Pat Cummins 2-35, Jaydev Unadkat 2-47) by 31 runs. Heinrich Klassen was 80 not out and Abhishek Sharma was 63.
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