HYDERABAD: Abhishek Sharma lit up the IPL on Saturday with a spectacular 141 off 55 balls to steer Sunrisers Hyderabad to the second-highest successful chase in tournament history of 246 as they downed Punjab Kings by eight wickets.
Earlier, Nicholas Pooran continued his incredible form with 61 to help Lucknow Super Giants end Gujarat Titans’ winning streak of four matches, coming out on top by six wickets.
The 24-year-old Abhishek put on the best stand so far this season of 171 with opening partner Travis Head, who hit 66, in a chase achieved with nine balls to spare.
“We didn’t talk (about) anything,” Abhishek said of the mood ahead of the chase. “It was just natural play for us. The partnership boosted me up.”
Punjab hold the record winning chase of 262 against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens last year.
Abhishek’s individual score is the third highest in IPL history behind Chris Gayle (175 not out for Bengaluru) and Brendon McCullum (158 not out for Kolkata) and the largest in 12 years.
“This one is very special, because I wanted to break that losing streak,” added Abhishek. “Losing four matches back to back was very tough. But we never talked about it in the team.”
Shreyas Iyer’s 82 and a late blitz of 34 by Marcus Stoinis steered Punjab to 245-6, but the total proved inadequate as the Sunrisers openers took their team off the bottom of the 10-team table with just a second win in six matches.
Abhishek started as he meant to go on, reaching his fifty in 19 balls.
Australia’s Head fell to leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal after hitting nine fours and three sixes in his 37-ball knock.
But Abhishek raised his century in only 40 balls as he roared, punched the air and waved a piece of paper with a message reading “this one for the orange army,” referencing the Sunrisers fans.
Arshdeep Singh eventually dismissed Abhishek, who hit 14 fours and 10 sixes, with 24 to win and Heinrich Klaasen saw Hyderabad home with an unbeaten 21 off 14 balls.
Earlier in Lucknow, opener Aiden Markram, who hit 58, and the in-form Pooran set up the home team’s chase of 181 before they secured victory over Gujarat with three balls to spare.
Markram shared partnerships of 65 with fellow opener Rishabh Pant and 58 with Pooran, who struck his fourth half-century of the campaign to go past Gujarat opener Sai Sudharsan as the leading runscorer this season with 349, at a remarkable strike-rate of 215.
“I think one thing is for sure is that we are happy to have Nicholas Pooran in our team,” said Pant of the West Indies star.
“You want someone like him on your side and not batting against you. The way he is reading the game right now, the way he is batting is phenomenal.”
Gujarat lost top spot in the 10-team table, with Lucknow behind in third with four wins from six matches.
South Africa’s Markram stepped up in the absence of his in-form opening partner Mitchell Marsh, who missed the match due to the illness of his daughter.
Skipper Pant was promoted to open but failed to strike form despite an early reprieve when Gujarat wicketkeeper Jos Buttler dropped a catch down the leg-side.
Pant hit four boundaries before he lofted fast bowler Prasidh Krishna to deep third man, falling for 21 from 18 balls.
Pant is still waiting to justify his record auction price of $3.21 million and has only managed 40 runs in five innings.
Pooran hammered his fifty in 23 balls before falling to Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan.
But he had already done the damage with one four and seven sixes in his 34-ball blitz.
Impact substitute Ayush Badoni hit an unbeaten 28 and sealed the win with a four and six after a late wobble.