HYDERABAD: Sunrisers Hyderabad posted 277-3 for the highest-ever Indian Premier League total and went on to beat Mumbai Indians by 31 runs in a six-hitting festival on Wednesday. Australia’s Travis Head made a 24-ball 62 and Abhishek Sharma, inspired by talking to West Indies legend Brian Lara, smashed 63 after Hyderabad batted first and went past the previous IPL best of 263-5 by Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2013.

It rained boundaries in Hyderabad’s innings with 18 sixes and 19 fours as the South African pair of Heinrich Klaasen (80 not out in 34 balls) and Aiden Markram, who hit 42, posted an unbeaten stand of 116. “Head is one of my favourite batters, I really admire his batting. Had a great time with him,” said Abhishek.

Mumbai replied strongly in the match which witnessed 38 sixes for another IPL record, bettering the 33 hits over the fence clubbed three times in earlier seasons. “The wicket was good but, no matter how good or bad you bowl, if the opposition get 277 that means they batted very well,” Mumbai skipper Hardik Pandya said.

He added: “The bowlers were good. It was tough out there. Close to 500 runs were scored so the wicket was helping the batters.” Left-handed Tilak Varma stood out with his 64 in 34 balls for Mumbai but the effort was not enough on a batting-friendly pitch in veteran batsman Rohit Sharma’s 200th IPL match.

Rohit smashed a 12-ball 26 and fellow opener Ishan Kishan made 34 to give Mumbai a flying start but the innings lost momentum after 10 overs due to the ever-increasing asking rate. Tim David smashed an unbeaten 42 in a late charge but the chase was beyond reach as Mumbai ended on 246-5 -- the team’s highest IPL total. It was records galore as the match also featured the highest run aggregate of 523 runs in 17 years of the IPL. Abhishek’s

Lara chat

Hyderabad skipper Pat Cummins was the best of the bowlers with 2-35 in his four overs of pace, leading his side to their first win of the season and said “it was an amazing game”. Earlier the left-handed Head, dropped on five by David off Pandya, reached his fifty in 18 balls and after his departure Abhishek reached his half-century off just 16.

The team’s 100 came up in only seven overs and Hyderabad posted the tournament’s highest ever total in the first 10 overs of 148-2. Abhishek, a left-hand batsman, fell after his 23-ball blitz but there was no respite for the bowlers who were at the receiving end of some punishing batting.

“I had a chance to talk to Brian Lara (West Indies batting great and IPL commentator) last night, that really helped me,” he revealed. Mumbai’s South African import Kwena Maphaka had a bruising introduction to IPL when the 17-year-old left-arm quick went for 66 runs in his four overs. Five-time winners Mumbai, who had a change in captaincy after Pandya took over from the experienced Rohit, and Hyderabad started this edition with a loss each. — AFP