Hyderabad: Records tumbled as Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) went on the rampage to post the highest ever IPL total of 277/3 against Mumbai Indians (MI) before sealing a 31-run victory in a power-hitting contest that left bowlers on both sides befuddled.
SRH opener Travis Head (62 off 24) and No. 3 Abhishek Sharma (63 off 23) came up with a sensational display of power-hitting that saw the latter snatching the franchise record for the fastest fifty from the Australian within minutes.
Heinrich Klaasen (80 not out off 34 balls) provided the fireworks in the end to help SRH break an 11-year-old record. The previous highest total in IPL was 263 for five achieved by Royal Challengers Bangalore back in 2013 against Pune Warriors. It was also the highest total recorded in a T20 league.
Mumbai bowlers were left shell-shocked by SRH's six-hitting spree but their batters came out with a purpose and made a match out of what looked like a one way traffic at the innings break.
Eventually, they ended on 246/5 in 20 overs. SRH opened their account, while MI slumped to their second loss on the trot.
A record 38 sixes were plundered in the game and it was also the highest aggregate (523) in a men's T20 match.
"The wicket was good but 277, no matter how good or bad you bowl, if the opposition get 277 that means they batted very well. It was tough out there for bowlers. Close to 500 runs were scored so the wicket was helping the batters," MI skipper Hardik Pandya said after the match.
Chasing a mammoth 278, Rohit Sharma (26 off 12), in his 200th game for the franchise, played some sublime strokes and was well complemented by Ishan Kishan (34 off 13) who got some much-needed runs.
Tilak Varma (64 off 34 balls) took the game deep with a high-quality knock, comprising half a dozen sixes. At 182 /3 in 14 overs and seven wickets in hand, MI were on course for something special before succumbing to constant scoreboard pressure.
Tim David (42 not out off 22) tried his best towards the end but it was not enough.
Earlier, it was raining fours and sixes as Head and Sharma toyed with the MI attack after being put in to bat.
Head, who was surprisingly left out of the playing eleven for the opening game, reinforced his status as one of the most dangerous batters in the game with a whirlwind effort.
He broke David Warner's record of the fastest fifty by a SRH batter with a 18-ball half-century before Sharma surpassed Head's feat 20 balls later by reaching the milestone off 16 balls.
Head, who was dropped by compatriot David at the start of his innings, opened his front leg and hit boundaries at will, collecting nine fours and three sixes in total.
The southpaw completed his fifty with an inside out four wide of mid-off before dispatching a bouncer from Gerald Coetzee for a six over deep midwicket, prompting Pandya to acknowledge the Australian's brutal assault.
When Head departed, Sharma went hammer and tongs, mostly targeting the cow corner region for his seven sixes and three boundaries.
It was a nightmarish start to the IPL for the 17-year-old South Africa pacer Kwena Maphaka, who made the MI squad on the back of his exploits in the U-19 World Cup.
He leaked as many as 66 runs in his four overs. The left-arm pacer could not recover from Head's onslaught in his second over in which he conceded 22 runs.
With the majority of the Mumbai bowlers taken to the cleaners, it was surprising that Pandya waited till the 13th over to give Jasprit Bumrah his second over.
Following Sharma's dismissal, the in-form Klaasen ensured there was no stopping to the SRH's six-hitting spree. Klaasen ended up with seven sixes with the maximum off a Bumrah bouncer standing out.
Klaasen had almost taken SRH over the line with his breathtaking knock against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens.
Former skipper Aiden Markram chipped in with an unbeaten 42 off 28 balls.