“Our scores need a 3 in front of it, doesn’t it now,” Head said, when asked about the benchmarks Sunrisers are setting for themselves, after the first innings against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Monday. “It’s proper batting. We want to be exciting all the time and take the game on. Pat and then Dan [Vettori] put pressure on the batting line-up so that we maximise the powerplay and keep going.”
“We’ve got guys like Klaasen and Samad, and then Nitish who didn’t even get a hit today. We got some power through the middle and we want to keep putting the foot down as much as we can. We know that’s not always a guarantee but as of now we are setting up really well in each game to get ourselves a score that we need.
“It was a nice wicket, nice to get away in the powerplay and make the most of it. We spoke about it leading into the game that we need individuals to step up at certain times. And I was able to contribute at the right time.”
Sunrisers Hyderabad smashed 22 sixes, the most in IPL history and Head contributed nine of them in his hundred. Along with Abhishek Sharma, Head helped Sunrisers race away to 76 for 0 in the powerplay while also getting to his fifty. Head was eventually out in the 13th over for a 41-ball 102.
Head’s wicket brought zero respite as Heinrich Klaasen pumped a 31-ball 67 next. Aiden Markram crunched a 17-ball 32 to stay unbeaten with Abdul Samad, who drilled 37 in only 10.
Sunrisers’ 287 for 3 is now the second-highest T20 total behind Nepal’s 314 for 3 against Mongolia in 2023. Four RCB bowlers went for 50-plus runs with Reece Topley conceding 68 and Vijaykumar Vyshak leaking 64.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo