Cricket-Sharma belts 141 as Hyderabad pull off IPLs second-highest successful chase

April 12 (Reuters) – Sunrisers Hyderabad opener Abhishek Sharma was delighted after his blistering knock of 141 off 55 balls helped his team to snap a four-match losing streak in the Indian Premier League with an eight-wicket win against Punjab Kings on Saturday.

Sharma hit 10 sixes and 14 boundaries as he notched up his first IPL century, the highest score by an Indian in the competition. His contribution helped hosts Hyderabad to pull off the second-highest successful run chase in the tournament’s history with nine balls to spare after Punjab posted 245-6 on a batting-friendly track.

The record for IPL’s highest successful run chase still belongs to Punjab, who chased down a target of 262 against Kolkata Knight Riders last year.

“This one is very special, because I wanted to break that losing streak. Losing four matches back-to-back was very tough. But we never talked about it in the team,” player-of-the-match Sharma said in his post-match interview.

Hyderabad, who won their season opener at the same venue in another high-scoring match against Rajasthan Royals, suffered four straight losses as their batters struggled to perform.

Captain Pat Cummins said Hyderabad never felt they were out of the game even though Punjab piled on the runs, with Shreyas Iyer (82 off 36) leading the charge.

“It suits our style. As a bowling group we know what we’re going to get, kind of hold onto your seats, try to hang on,” Cummins said about the pitch.

“Any over under 10 you feel like it’s a big win… it seems crazy that you feel confident that you will be able to chase down close to 250.”

Sharma put together a 171-run opening partnership in 12.2 overs with Travis Head (66 off 37), which set the stage for the chase, as Heinrich Klaasen and Ishan Kishan got Hyderabad to 247-2 well in time.

“Nice to get on the winner’s list. We needed it. We had our work cut out at halfway stage. We wanted to give ourselves a chance,” Head said after the match.

“I was a bit patient in the first two overs. Abhi got off to a flier… we complement each other really well.” (Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru)