SWASHBUCKLING opener Abhishek Sharma struck an unbeaten 135 to fire Sunrisers Hyderabad to their third IPL win in a row as they hammered Delhi Capitals by 47 runs on Tuesday (21).
The left-handed Abhishek struck 10 fours and 10 sixes in his 68-ball blitz to steer hosts Hyderabad to a mammoth 242-2 batting first.
Their bowlers did not disappoint either and Sri Lankan paceman Eshan Malinga stood out with his IPL best of 4-32 to help restrict Delhi to 195-9 as Hyderabad won for the fourth time in seven matches this season.
Hyderabad, the 2016 IPL champions, jumped to third in the table. Delhi remain in fifth after three wins and three defeats.
Delhi captain Axar Patel tipped his cap to Abhishek for a match-winning display.
"If someone bats that well, and their execution is not lacking, credit must be given for such a performance," said Axar.
"I was telling the bowlers the same thing, that if you executed well, and after that he still hit a good shot, then you cannot do anything. You know, you have to move on."
Nitish Rana and KL Rahul attempted to launch the chase in their second-wicket partnership of 86, but once both departed, Delhi fell well behind the required rate.
Rahul went for 27 before Malinga struck twice in two balls to send back Rana (57) and big-hitter David Miller, for a golden duck.
South Africa's Tristan Stubbs avoided the hat-trick and went on to score 27 in a 59-run partnership with Sameer Rizvi, who made 41.
The partnership kept Delhi in the hunt, if only by a whisker, until Malinga struck again to remove Stubbs and the chase fizzled out.
Earlier, Abhishek put on a 97-run opening stand with fellow left-hander Travis Head (37) and was ably supported at the end by Heinrich Klaasen, who hit an unbeaten 37 off just 13 deliveries.
"The way we started we had a plan, me and Heady wanted to make use of the powerplay," said Abhishek. "But the wicket was slow, so we had to adjust and come up with different plans."
Abhishek was dropped on 86 by Rana and made him pay for the spill with two straight sixes off the bowler to reach his second IPL century, with his father in attendance.
He kept up the entertainment alongside South Africa's Klaasen, and is the leading run scorer in this season's tournament with 323. Klaasen is second with 320 runs.
(AFP)
