The eighth game of Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024) saw the high-voltage clash between the Pat Cummins-led Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and the Hardik Pandya-led ones Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad, on Wednesday, March 27.
Mumbai Indians won the toss and elected to bowl first in the match. MI made one change to their playing XI as Luke Wood, who had a problem, was replaced by Kwena Maphaka. SRH, on the other hand, made two changes: T Natarajan, who had a problem, was replaced by Jaydev Unadkat, and Travis Head replaced Marco Jansen.
The decision to bowl first proved to be a nightmare for the visitors as Travis Head launched an attack on the MI bowlers. The left-handed Australian batsman showed off the powerplay of his and smoked bowlers all over the park.
He hit 9 fours and 2 sixes to complete his half-century off 18 balls in the powerplay. This was the fastest fifty in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) by an SRH batsman and the team also recorded the highest ever powerplay score of 81/1.
Head was in no mood to stop after reaching the half-century and continued to hit the ball over the boundary rope. Right-arm pacer Gerald Coetzee finally managed to make a breakthrough for his team by dismissing Travis Head for 62 runs off 24 balls, including 9 fours and 3 sixes.
Moments later, Abhishek Sharma broke his teammate’s record and smashed the fastest fifty for SRH off just 16 balls. He played an incredible innings and finished with 63 runs off 23 balls, with 3 fours and 7 sixes.
After the dismissal of the top-order batsmen, Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen joined forces and began the annihilation. Both the batsmen played an attacking brand of cricket and gave MI captain Hardik Pandya a hard time.
Mumbai Indians tried every weapon in their arsenal but could not rule out Klaasen and Markram.
Klaasen was especially ultra-aggressive and scored 80 runs off 34 balls. His innings were filled with 4 fours and 7 sixes. Markram, on the other hand, smashed 42 runs off 28 balls, 2 fours and 1 six.
In the end, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) created history by posting 277/3 on the board, breaking the record for highest score in IPL history, which was previously held by RCB when they scored 263/5 in 2013.
Chasing the target, Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan got Mumbai Indians (MI) off to a good start. Both batsmen came out firing and added 56 runs in 20 balls. However, neither of them could play big innings. Ishan Kishan was back in the cabin for 34, while Rohit Sharma was dismissed for 26.
Then youngsters Tilak Varma and Naman Dhir took charge and brought the momentum back to Mumbai Indians (MI). They made 84 runs in 37 balls, but after the dismissal of Tilak (64) and Naman (30), things went downhill for MI. Hardik Pandya played a poor innings of 24 runs off 20 balls and faced heavy criticism for his batting.
In the end, Tim David (42) and Romario Shepherd (15) scored some runs but MI were restricted to 246/5 and they lost the match by 31 runs.
Here’s how Twitter reacted to the IPL 2024 match between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH):
The Captain laughs again.
He feels like a Nobel Prize winner playing gully cricket with the neighborhood kids.
– Gabbar (@GabbbarSingh) March 27, 2024
I love the fall of Mumbai Indians.
🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/dIru4ds2uk
-Ansh Shah (@asmemesss) March 27, 2024
A crack contest finally comes to an end 😅#SRHvMI
– SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) March 27, 2024
523 runs in one game. Incredible game. The home teams have won all 8 games this season so far. Abhi toh party shuru huyi hai. #SRHvMI
– Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) March 27, 2024
What a game of cricket 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 @SunRisers won by 31 runs. #SRHvMI
-Wazhma Ayoubi 🇦🇫 (@WazhmaAyoubi) March 27, 2024
Thanks, Hardik. He was not prepared for RCB’s record to be broken twice in a span of 2 hours.
– Prithvi (@Puneite_) March 27, 2024
My heart beats, my eyes filled with tears.
— ∆ 🏏 (@CaughtAtGully) March 27, 2024
Not a single hitter in single digits.
Only 2 players with single digit economy. Most runs ever made in a T20 game.
523!! Madness in Hyderabad with another local team maintaining a perfect record at home. #IPL2024-Anant Tyagi (@anantyagi_) March 27, 2024
The Captain laughs again.
He feels like a Nobel Prize winner playing gully cricket with the neighborhood kids.
– Gabbar (@GabbbarSingh) March 27, 2024
The orange army launches its @IPL season. I still think the bowling will suit as a unit that needs to improve greatly if it can earn a playoff spot. @amaneceres #SRHvMI #IPL2024
—John Wright (@johnwright15) March 27, 2024
If the entire team plays with a strike rate of 200, the Captain cannot bat with a strike rate of 120.
—Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) March 27, 2024
Batting coach Kieron Pollard sitting in the dugout watching Tim David and Hardik Pandya finish like this. pic.twitter.com/C33T9yGBY4
—Sameer Allana (@HitmanCricket) March 27, 2024
Hardik also disappoints a lot with the bat…one bad hit brings MI down like Irfan said and I totally agree with him. @mipaltan #SRHvMI
– Samip Rajguru (@samiprajguru) March 27, 2024
What a game of cricket. Complete entertainment. Well done, sunrises. Proud of each and every member of @mipaltan for an incredible fight until the end ✊🏼🤗
– Surya Kumar Yadav (@surya_14kumar) March 27, 2024
Rohit Sharma: Hello Surya, our team also won the second match.
Surya Bhau💔: pic.twitter.com/MH8oRaq59b
– Raja Babu (@GaurangBhardwa1) March 27, 2024
Had Hardik Pandya picked up the pace a bit, Mumbai could have taken the win.
– Shivani Shukla (@iShivani_Shukla) March 27, 2024
24 off 20 balls in the chase of 278 runs! A very normal knock from Hardik Pandya when his team needed it the most. #IPL2024 #SRHvMI
—Mohsin Kamal (@64MohsinKamal) March 27, 2024
Chasing 277 in 20 overs and your supposed captain gets a brilliant 24 off 20. 🤦♂️
What a stunning decision to name this guy as your Rohit captain. #SRHvMI
-Nibraz Ramzan (@nibraz88cricket) March 27, 2024
The orange army launches its @IPL season. I still think the bowling will suit as a unit that needs to improve greatly if it can earn a playoff spot. @amaneceres #SRHvMI #IPL2024
—John Wright (@johnwright15) March 27, 2024
https://twitter.com/HitmanCricket/status/1773042775350497730?t=D9MWbQjFv_Ys5XfZ3AO6oA&s=19