Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma were phenomenal as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Punjab Kings by eight wickets at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. Abhishek smacked the highest score by an Indian in the IPL history.
Abhishek Sharma and Tavis Head were the most feared duo in IPL 2024. However, in the IPL 2025, they failed to live up to the expectations and for the same season, Hyderabad lost four out of their five matches before hosting Punjab Kings at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. The visitors had a great time with the bat but all that will be remembered is Abhishek’s blistering century and Head’s calculative knock which helped Hyderabad win their second game of the season.
Punjab batters were on song too, Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh managed a cracking start, which was followed by captain Shreyas Iyer’s sensational knock of 82 runs off 36 deliveries. Towards the end, Marcus Stoinis played a perfect cameo of 34* runs off 11 deliveries and courtesy of that, the visitors posted 245 runs on the board in the first innings.
The chase was all about Head and Abhishek’s masterclass. The latter was out in the powerplay but a no-ball from Yash Thakur saved him. Since then, the India international went berserk, smashing 141 runs off 55 deliveries. Head supported him well for the majority part of the time as the Australia international made 66 runs off 37. The duo stitched a partnership of 171 runs and that more-or-less cemented the game in SRH’s favour.
Later, it was only a matter of time before Heinrich Klaasen and Ishan Kishan finished things off. Interestingly, it was the second-highest chase in the IPL history. Punjab Kings chased 263 runs in IPL 2024 against Kolkata Knight Riders. Hyderabad now stands second on the list.
With the win, Hyderabad now moved eighth on the points table with Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings below them. Punjab, on the other hand, are sixth on the table with three wins and two defeats to their name.
