Abhishek Sharma unleashed a brutal onslaught with a blistering 28-ball 74 before Punjab Kings rallied to stop Sunrisers Hyderabad at 219 for six in their Indian Premier League match here on Saturday.
Sent in, Abhishek and Travis Head (38 off 23 balls) blew away the PBKS bowlers with a 120-run opening partnership in a mere 8.1 overs.
The home team, however, made a comeback after Shashank Singh (2/20 in 3 overs) removed both openers in one over and, as a result, SRH, who were 120 for no loss at the start of the ninth over, ended inside 220.
Xavier Bartlett (1/42 in 4 overs) bowled a brilliant final over, conceding just five runs.
This was after Abhishek smashed eight sixes and five fours.
Abhishek got off the blocks quickly, slashing Arshdeep Singh over cover for a boundary after the left-arm seamer offered him width to free his arms.
He picked up a couple of boundaries against Bartlett and then launched into Arshdeep, collecting 24 runs with the help of two fours and two maximums, including a straight six and another off a top edge over third man.
Marco Jansen, too, was taken to the cleaners, conceding 16 runs in the left-arm quick’s first over as SRH reached 60 for no loss in four overs.
Abhishek reached his half-century in 18 balls with a six over long-on off a Vyshak Vijaykumar slower ball, and two balls later, a low full toss was lofted over long-on for another maximum to signal the end of another 24-run over, which propelled SRH to 84 for no loss in five overs, the best powerplay score at this venue.
Abhishek enjoyed registering his first half-century of the season and received a hug from Head before the two resumed their power-hitting.
Bartlett came back, but the onslaught continued unabated as Head struck three consecutive boundaries and Abhishek pummelled one over deep midwicket for a maximum to bring up SRH’s 100 inside the powerplay.
With his front-line seamers leaking plenty of runs, Punjab skipper Shreyas Iyer introduced Shashank Singh and spinner Yuzvendra Chahal to slow things down, and the former gave away just six runs in his first over.
Leg-spinner Chahal conceded only three runs in his first five balls before Abhishek danced down the wicket to smack him for a big six.
Continuing with Shashank paid off for PBKS as he effected the much-needed first breakthrough with an innocuous delivery that Head hit to the fielder at long-on.
Shashank struck again as Abhishek was caught by Arshdeep after the batter slashed a fuller-length ball but could not clear the boundary.
Showing astute captaincy, Shreyas gave Chahal another over and, in the context of the game, he did the job asked of him by conceding just nine runs.
SRH skipper Ishan Kishan (27 off 17) got out to Arshdeep, while Heinrich Klaasen (39 off 33) was dismissed in the final over.
At the toss, Iyer said the decision was based on understanding how the surface plays, adding that the side has been performing well and needs to continue backing each other.
Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Ishan Kishan said he was backing his bowlers to execute their plans.
Former South Africa pacer Dale Steyn, speaking on broadcast, suggested that a total in the range of 170–180 could be a par score on the surface.
He noted that while there is not much grass on the wicket, there could be some grip for the spinners, especially in a day game.
"From a team perspective, we're looking at some of those SRH batters and they are incredibly destructive. But just to talk about the wicket quickly, it's a day game, so it's going to be slightly different. We've seen scores here of 160, 170 a couple of weeks ago. Again, a low scoring game. So I think the bowlers are the ones that are smiling. We're not going to get those big 220s, 230s this afternoon. I think batting first, you'll see that 170 kind of area and then as the sun starts to drop down, it'll skid on and become a little bit better. I think you're gonna find your match-up. On this pitch, it just brings them a little bit closer together. You can hold your length a little bit," said Steyn.
The conditions could bring Punjab Kings spinner Harpreet Brar into consideration as an Impact Player option.
Sunrisers Hyderabad handed opportunities to Salil Arora and Praful Hinge, who came in for Liam Livingstone and Jaydev Unadkat, with Hinge making his IPL debut.
Punjab Kings, unbeaten so far this season, will look to continue their strong run and avenge their defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad last year, when the 2016 champions chased down a target of 246. SRH, meanwhile, have had a mixed start, losing two of their first three matches.
Punjab Kings starting XI: Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Priyansh Arya, Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer (c), Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal.
Sunrisers Hyderabad playing XI: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (c/wk), Heinrich Klaasen, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Salil Arora, Aniket Verma, Harsh Dubey, Shivang Kumar, Harshal Patel, Eshan Malinga.
(With inputs from PTI)