It is said that lightning doesn’t strike twice! Ask the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). They may not only disagree but also say that it could come harder. Against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), SRH smashed their way to the highest team total in the history of the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 – 287 for three – beating their record of 277 set against the Mumbai Indians (MI) earlier in the season. The M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru now has two out of the top three team totals in the IPL history.
To break the TATA IPL record once is fantastic, but to do it twice in a season is fantabulous. It only reflects the quality of batting that SRH possess. From the outset, they were in a mood to take the attack to the bowling. On a wicket that is known to produce big scores, SRH were put in to bat. Many fans would have expected a great performance, with a total over 200, but not many would have imagined that the record would be broken for the second time in the season.
Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head started the innings and looked in dominating form. The off-spinner, Will Jacks started proceedings for RCB, but the pace bowling at the other end was earmarked for special treatment. Reece Topley’s first over was picked for 20 runs. Lockie Ferguson was welcomed with an 18-run over. Yash Dayal’s second over went for 20. All of this as SRH raced away to 76 inside the powerplay. Head raced away to his half-century off only 20 balls.