It would have been the highest total in IPL history if it had happened last season, but on Saturday night in Delhi, 266 for 7 felt almost anticlimactic. That's how far Sunrisers Hyderabad have pushed the window of batting opportunity this season. It was the fourth-highest total in IPL history, but only the third-highest total Sunrisers scored in the 2024 IPL.
At one point, there was a sense that they could have been so much better, that 300 was a frighteningly realistic prospect. Sunrisers had gone where no team in any competition had gone before in a T20 powerplay, as Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma put on a hair-raising six-wicket stand of 125 not out. Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel, emboldened by the relaxation of fielding restrictions, then brought Sunrisers' innings back down to earth, but it was that awe-inspiring start that would remain the defining passage of the match.
Delhi Capitals began their reply with the second-highest powerplay score of the IPL 2024 but were only 88 for 2. Jake Fraser-McGurk beat Head's 16-ball knock by one ball to bring up the quickest half-century of the season, but his dismissal in the seventh over effectively ended the contest. Capitals had hinted that they might chase Sunrisers down when they began their chase, but they collapsed badly at the other end against some excellent defensive bowling led by T Natarajan. They eventually fell for a symbolic 199 as Rishabh Pant struggled for fluency before being the last man out for 44 off 35 balls.