Abhishek’s ton sets up huge win for Sunrisers

The way T20 cricket is unfolding now, not even Abhishek Sharma was sure of what would have been the par score on a parched Hyderabad pitch.

- Somshuvra Laha

SRH's Abhishek Sharma after scoring a century in their IPL match against DC.

(AFP)

So, he batted the entire 20 overs for the first time ever, hitting 10 sixes in a 68-ball 135*—his second best score in IPL— and lifted Sunrisers Hyderabad to 242/2.

His worries were unfounded though, as DC were restricted to 195/9. Nitish Rana thrilled with a 30-ball 57 but pacer Eshan Malinga (4/32) dismissed him and David Miller off consecutive balls to halt Capitals in their tracks before they crumbled slowly.

Eight out of nine times before this had Sunrisers won defending 200-plus totals. But this goes beyond any template now—SRH batting first in all their games so far, having mastered the art of building scoreboard pressure through their top-order batting. Tuesday wasn't any different, and Capitals couldn't do anything, either to peg the run flow or chase down the huge total.