Abhishek Sharma breaks eerie pattern of scores in IPL 2026 to smash unbeaten 135

Abhishek Sharma had misfired in every innings preceding a memorable knock in IPL 2026. Tonight, he broke that pattern, and how!

The left-hand opener smashed a powerful century (135 not out of 68), his first of the season, to bring back the 'orange cap' for the leading run-getter of the season on his head.

The 25-year-old now has two of the best five individual scores in IPL history, after a powerful 141 off 55 against the Punjab Kings last season, which ranks third in the list.

The Sunrisers posted 242/2 in Hyderabad, with Travis Head (37), Heinrich Klaasen (37 not out) and captain Ishan Kishan (25) making valuable contributions.

Delhi struggled in pursuit of the imposing total and were restricted to 195/9, losing by 47 runs. An 86-run stand for the second wicket between K L Rahul (37) and Nitish Rana (57) was the best they managed. Sameer Rizvi made 41 off 28. For SRH, Eshan Malinga bagged 4/32 and Harsh Dubey finished with 3/12 from his two overs.

Abhishek's innings had been full of firepower, comprising 10 sixes and as many boundaries, at a strike rate just short of 200.

In the six previous matches this season, Abhishek had blown hot and cold. He started with a 7 against RCB before hitting 48 against KKR. Abhishek fell for a duck against LSG before firing a 74 against Punjab.

In the next match, he was dismissed for a golden duck by Jofra Archer of the Rajasthan Royals. Abhishek posted a solid 59 in SRH's match against CSK on April 18. Going by the pattern of runs, he should have lost his wicket early tonight. But he said, not tonight!

IPL 2026 has seen four centurions, with Sanju Samson making 115 not out for Chennai Super Kings, Quinton de Kock hitting 112 not out for Mumbai Indians and Tilak Varma scoring a 101 not out, again for MI.