Mumbai Indians chased valiantly but fell short of 31 runs to lose the high-scoring contest against SunRisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Wednesday (Mar 27) evening where over 500 runs were scored in total. Set a record target of 278, the asking run rate from the start was above 13 which proved a little too much for the Mumbai side. 

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The match was over in the first half but the likes of Tilak Verma, Rohit Sharma and Naman Dhir ensured that the five-time IPL champions did not go down tamely. The former MI captain started off in a brisk manner, pulling anything delivered in his arc over the square leg region. 

However, Ishan Kishan was the first to depart as Shahbaz Ahmed sent him back to the pavilion after the left-hander had scored 34 in only 12 deliveries. Rohit was the next to follow as SRH skipper Pat Cummins made the Indian batter miscue one, straight down the throat of Aiden Markram at long leg. 

Varma (64) showed once again why he deserved to be in the MI lineup but ran out of steam at the back end as the run rate continued to creep up. Hardik Pandya and Tim David did hit some lusty blows but the likes of Jaydev Unadkat and Bhuvneshwar Kmaur ensured that SRH kept a lid on the scoring. 

ALSO READ | IPL 2024: SRH smash league record for highest team score in Hyderabad, humiliate MI bowlers to score 277/3

SRH’s marauding batting

Put into bat first by the opposition captain, SRH batters came out with the sole objective of thumping everything out of the park. Playing his debut match for SRH, Travis Head set the mood of the evening by carting and smashing MI bowlers for fun.

South Africa’s 17-year-old Kwena Maphaka was the first to be on the receiving end of Head’s wrath as the Australian smashed him for 22 runs in one over. The U-19 World Cup star had a taste of the big leagues and would have certainly learned that the gap between the rookie and the professional league was gargantuan.  

Head didn’t stop his onslaught and went after Gerald Coetzee as well as Piyush Chawla. The Australian smashed the fastest fifty for the franchise before Abhishek Sharma broke the record 20 minutes later.

Middle-order star Heinrich Klaasen continued the onslaught and smashed 80 off 34 balls to help set a record target. He was ably supported by Aiden Markram who finished with 42 off 28 balls – having the lowest strike rate (150) off all the batters.  

Jasprit Bumrah was the lone bright spot in the sorry-looking MI bowling card. The Indian pacer was the only bowler to have an economy rate in single digits and ensured that SRH did not touch the 300-run mark. 

Highest team totals in the IPL:

277/3 – SRH vs MI, Hyderabad, 2024

263/5 – RCB vs PWI, Bengaluru, 2013

257/5 – LSG vs PBKS, Mohali, 2023

248/3 – RCB vs GL, Bengaluru, 2016

246/5 – MI vs SRH, Hyderabad, 2024

246/5 – CSK vs RR, Chennai, 2010

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