Hyderabad, May 2 Nitish Reddy was outstanding in a magnificent display of stroke-play to hit an unbeaten 42-ball 76, while Travis Head made 58 off 44 balls as the duo carried Sunrisers Hyderabad to a huge 201/3 against Rajasthan Royals at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Thursday evening.
On a fresh pitch, with some grip available for bowlers, Head hit a slow-ish fifty. But Reddy dazzled by hitting three fours and eight sixes, with some of his maximums hit straight down the ground and over cover enthralling the home fans.
Later, Heinrich Klaasen hit an unbeaten 42 off 19, laced with three fours and as many sixes, to take SRH past 200 for the fifth time this season, with their last 12 overs yielding 153 runs. For RR, who conceded a 200+ total for just the second time in this competition, Avesh Khan was impressive in his 2-39, while Sandeep Sharma was tidy in his 1-31.
Electing to bat first, Head could have been out on the first ball if Riyan Parag hadn’t shelled the chance at backward point off Trent Boult. With Ravichandran Ashwin beating Head and Abhishek Sharma via deliveries gripping and bouncing, a wicket looked imminent for RR.
Avesh reaped the reward of platform set by Boult and Ashwin when he had Abhishek pulling straight to deep square leg. Sandeep Sharma also joined Avesh as a wicket-taker when Anmolpreet Singh chipped straight to diving mid-wicket, as SRH ended power-play at 37/2.
Head opened up by cutting Yuzvendra Chahal for four, before pulling the leg-spinner for back-to-back sixes and whipping him through the leg-side for another boundary. While Head brought up his fifty in 37 balls, Nitish began his onslaught by muscling Ashwin for back-to-back sixes, followed by hitting Chahal for two fours and as many sixes in the 13th over.
Head’s knock came to an end when he shaped for a lap shot off Avesh, but played onto his stumps. Nitish marched on to get his fifty in 30 balls, followed by slog-sweeping and pulling Ashwin for a brace of sixes. From the other end, Klassen was lofting and pulling Chahal for consecutive sixes, as the leg-spinner conceded 62 runs in his four overs.
While Nitish took a six and four off Avesh, Klaasen smashed Boult for two fours, before smashing Sandeep for a four and six in the final over to take SRH past 200, a possibility which no one saw coming after their slow start.
Brief Scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 201/3 in 20 overs (Nitish Reddy 76 not out, Travis Head 58; Avesh Khan 2-39, Sandeep Sharma 1-31) against Rajasthan Royals.
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