Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) batting star Travis Head ‘never expected’ the way he and his fellow opener Abhishek Sharma chased down the total of 166 in 9.4 overs in the IPL 2024 match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Wednesday night at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. Head smashed a 16-ball half-century with some astonishing display of cricketing shots and remained unbeaten on 89 off just 33 deliveries to guide his team home. He along with his opening duo Abhishek Sharma stitched up 166 runs opening partnership and hammered 107 runs in the power play in comparison to LSG’s 27.

“I don’t think we could have ever expected chasing it like that,” acknowledged Head at the post-match press conference. “It looked like a tough wicket in the first innings, it looked like it was holding and a slow pitch. I guess, knowing that as a batter, you know that the powerplay is important. (We were) trying to maximise that and we played beautifully, we were able to get ahead of the rate, which is nice. And once we got going in the first two or three overs, it was just about trying to maximise that as much as we can and I felt we picked our targets and played very well,” he said.

SRH obliterated LSG’s challenge by first stifling them with the new ball and then launching a sensational chase of 166 in just 9.4 overs, the highest 10-over score in any T20. In all T20 cricket, only seven times 100 or more been scored in the powerplay, SRH have the two top scores, both in IPL 2024.

“You always want to perform, you always want to be consistent, you always want to try and be doing the job; it’s not going to always happen in T20 cricket (but) I felt the way we have been playing is great. We’re going to have ups and downs, we’ve had that. Nice to be able to chase a score tonight after being put under pressure by them batting (first).

“A couple of times we’ve chased throughout the season, we’ve been put under pressure. To be able to do the job tonight, and chasing, (it feels great). Looking forward to the next two games being at home as well,” said Head.

Head and Abhishek have combined for three century stands in the IPL with two of the, coming in the powerplay. SRH is the only side with more than one century opening stand in the IPL 2024.

“It’s nice to just come here and contribute. I wasn’t sure if I was going to play. Nice to get a go, nice to be performing, and the partnership with Abhi has been fantastic. He’s such an exciting talent for Indian cricket, he’s exceptional. We complement each other well and he’s very, very enjoyable to be around. He’s so excited and thinks about the game, he’s got loads of energy, so he’s a great partnership to be involved in,” Head said of the opening stand before he added that the middle order has also played a key role for SRH.

“I guess the Kings game (against Punjab Kings) is a blueprint for us in the way we’re able to go about the game. It’s not always going to work at the top of the order, we are going to lose wickets, but we want to be brave through the whole middle. Nitish [Reddy] has played some unbelievable innings, obviously we’ve got Klassy (Heinrich Klaasen) and (Abdul) Samad tops it off for us…

“Everyone is high on confidence, everyone is playing well, we’re not dependent on the top order. Yes we are playing well but I don’t think it defines the team. I feel like we’ve got a really strong middle order…we’re very well rounded at the moment,” he conluded.

SRH will next face Gujarat Titans on May 16 and will end their league stage on May 19 against Punjab Kings at their home.

–IANS

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