Sunrisers Hyderabad won their first match of the IPL 2023 season by defeating Punjab Kings by 8 wickets in the 14th match. This was Punjab’s first defeat of the season, as they had won their previous matches against Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals. Shikhar Dhawan played an outstanding inning for Punjab Kings to help them put up a decent total on the board. As wickets kept tumbling at the other end, the left-handed opener held firm, carrying his bat through the inning. Dhawan faced 66 deliveries, smashing 12 fours and five sixes on his way to a brilliant unbeaten knock of 99 runs at a strike rate of 150.
However, SunRisers Hyderabad prevented a third consecutive defeat in the IPL 2023 as Rahul Tripathi (74*) helped SRH chase down the 144-run target with 17 balls to spare.After the match, SRH head coach Brian Lara could not hold back and said that Dhawan's 99 was the best innings he had ever seen in T20 cricket. The West Indian great added that the Indian star deserves all the respect for controlling the game.
I must commend Shikhar Dhawan, I think this was one of the best innings I have ever seen in T20 cricket. You have to respect how he farmed the strike and controlled the game and scored 99 off such a small total," Lara told the broadcaster. "Some times I got the feeling that he would wrestle the momentum away from us. But this looked like a good track from the 3rd, 4th over, there was not much swing. We just had to bat normal and gather some runs. There were some shaky moments in the beginning, but I was very positive."SRH lost their openers - Harry Brook and Mayank Agarwal - in quick succession. But the no.3 Rahul Tripathi and captain Aiden Markram stood tall with their unbeaten 100-run partnership for the third wicket.
