Young opener Abhishek Sharma played a sensational unbeaten knock of 135 runs to lead Sunrisers Hyderabad to their third consecutive victory in the IPL, defeating Delhi Capitals by 47 runs on Tuesday.
Abhishek, a left-handed batsman, smashed 10 boundaries and 10 maximums in his aggressive innings of 68 balls, guiding Hyderabad to an imposing total of 242-2 after being put in to bat.
The Hyderabad bowlers also delivered a strong performance, with Sri Lankan pacer Eshan Malinga shining with figures of 4-32, his best in the IPL, as they restricted Delhi to 195-9, securing their fourth win in seven matches this season.
With this victory, Hyderabad, the champions of the 2016 IPL, climbed to the third position in the points table, while Delhi, with three wins and three losses, remained in the fifth spot.
Delhi skipper Axar Patel praised Abhishek for his exceptional match-winning innings, acknowledging the youngster’s flawless execution.
“When a player performs like that and executes his shots perfectly, you have to give credit for such a remarkable performance,” said Axar.
Despite a strong partnership of 86 runs between Nitish Rana and KL Rahul for the second wicket in Delhi’s chase, the team fell behind the required run rate after their dismissals.
Malinga’s quick strikes removed Rahul (27), Rana (57), and David Miller in quick succession, but a resilient partnership between Tristan Stubbs and Sameer Rizvi briefly kept Delhi in the game before Malinga’s crucial breakthroughs dented their hopes.
In the first innings, Abhishek combined effectively with Travis Head for a 97-run opening stand before finishing strongly with Heinrich Klaasen, who contributed an unbeaten 37 off just 13 balls.
“Our plan was to capitalize on the powerplay overs at the start of the innings. However, the slow pitch required us to adjust our strategy and come up with alternative plans,” Abhishek explained.
Abhishek’s remarkable innings included a crucial partnership with Klaasen and saw him reach his second IPL century with two consecutive sixes after being dropped on 86 by Rana.
Abhishek currently leads the run-scoring chart in this IPL season with 323 runs, closely followed by Klaasen with 320 runs, showcasing their impactful contributions to the team’s success.
