Sunrisers Hyderabad pulled off a jaw-dropping chase of 246 runs against Punjab Kings, and even PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief.
Despite setting what looked like a winning total, Punjab were hammered by a brutal opening stand from Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head. The duo smashed a 171-run partnership that left the PBKS bowlers scrambling. Abhishek’s knock — 141 off 55 balls — is now the highest-ever IPL score by an Indian. Head chipped in with a rapid 66 off 37 balls. Together, they were unstoppable.
SRH hunted down the mammoth target with nine wickets in hand — and with two overs to spare.
Speaking after the match, Iyer said with a smile, “It still makes me laugh that they chased it with 2 overs to spare. We thought 230 was more than enough.”
PBKS had earlier posted 245/6, thanks to strong starts from Priyansh Arya (36 off 13) and Prabhsimran Singh (42 off 23), followed by a captain’s knock from Iyer himself (82 off 36) and some late fireworks by Marcus Stoinis (34* off 11).
But on the field, Punjab’s bowlers couldn’t hold their nerve. Fielding lapses and poor over management added to their woes. “We didn’t bowl to our expectations,” Iyer admitted. “We missed a few chances, and the over rotation could’ve been better. The way Abhishek batted — it was out of this world.”
SRH’s Heinrich Klaasen (21*) and Ishan Kishan (9*) finished the job after Abhishek fell just short of the end.
The chase now ranks as the second-highest in IPL history, just behind PBKS’s own 262-run chase against KKR last year. With this win, SRH jump to eighth on the table (2 wins, 4 losses), while PBKS sit sixth (3 wins, 2 losses).
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