In the ongoing cricket biggest spectacle, the Indian Premier League's match 6 saw Sunrisers Hyderabad take on Kolkata Knight Riders at their home ground of Eden Gardens on Thursday, where the former were invited to bat first after KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane won the toss.
However, soon the SRH batters, Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head, put on a dominant batting display once again and stitched together a quickfire partnership of 82.
Sharma scored a quickfire 48 off 21 deliveries while Head played a knock of 46 runs off 21 balls. At the end, SRH posted a massive total of 226 runs, where Heinrich Klaasen (52 off 35) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (39 off 24) helped the side reach that total.
KKR collapse hands Hyderabad a dominant win
That total proved far beyond reach for the Bengal side, who were bundled out for 161 in just 16 overs, handing SRH a commanding 65-run victory.
For Hyderabad, Jaydev Unadkat spearheaded the bowling effort with three key wickets, conceding only 21 runs in his three overs, while Nitish Kumar Reddy, who was also named Player of the Match, chipped in with two wickets in his two-over spell.
Abhishek Sharma penalised despite big win
Despite this dominant display from the Sunrisers Hyderabad team, their star opener Abhishek Sharma found himself in hot water as he was found guilty of breaching the IPL code of conduct in the clash. The Indian batsman has been fined 25 percent of his match fees along with receiving one demerit point.
The 25-year-old was admitted to a Level 1 offence under Article 2.3, which involved audible obscenities. Sharma accepted the punishment imposed by the match referee.
Points table update and next challenge
With yesterday's big win, Sunrisers Hyderabad now stand sixth in the points table with one win and one loss, and they have also bettered their net run rate from negative to +0.469.
The team will next face Rishabh Pant-led Lucknow Super Giants on Sunday at their home ground of Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.