Such was the dominance of Ishan that it looked as if Sunrisers would breach the much-talked about 300-mark in its very first match of the season
HYDERABAD: Ishan Kishan scored his maiden century in IPL and on debut for Sunrisers Hyderabad to help the home team score an imposing 286/6 in 20 overs against Rajasthan Royals in its season opener at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Saturday.
It was a class act from the southpaw, and his animated celebrations on reaching the magical, 45-ball, three-figure mark were perhaps a reminder that he means business.
And, such was the dominance of Ishan that it looked as if Sunrisers would breach the much-talked about 300-mark in its very first match of the season!
Earlier, flamboyant opener Abhishek Sharma was in his usual hurry, hitting all round the wicket during his brief stay, scoring an 11-ball 24, including five fours, before slashing off-spinner Maheesh Theekshana straight to point in the fourth over.
Travis Head (67, 31b, 9×4, 3×6) was at his imperious best picking the pace ace Jofra Archer for rough treatment in his first over – hitting four fours and a huge six over square-leg into the stands in the fifth over of the innings.
The Australian star batter was in his element to the delight of the Sunrisers camp, treating the bowlers with his typical disdain. Looked ominous but thanks to a smart piece of bowling by pacer Tushar Deshpande, whose change of pace in his first over deceived Head as he ended up hitting one straight to mid-off in the ninth over, but not before he showed the way for the others to dominate the bowling on yet another perfect batting wicket.
Then, it was the turn of southpaw Ishan Kishan to make it a truly memorable debut for Sunrisers when he raced away to a 25-ball half-century, which included three sixes in one over off Archer, who had a forgettable outing by all means.
Soon, the way he swung left-arm pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi effortlessly into the stands over square-leg was pure class and timing.
Andhra star Nitish Kumar Reddy chipped in with a breezy 15-ball 30 (4×4, 1×6) before chipping one from Theekshana straight to deep mid-wicket.
At the other end, Ishan kept going. He was lucky on 75 when his shot of a low full-toss from Tushar Desphande just eluded the leaping captain Riyan Parag at mid-off. But for that one false stroke, it was a class act by him.
Ishan completed the century in style with two consecutive pulls over the boundary off Sandeep Sharma and then off-drove for a brace to reach the century in the 19th over.
That Jofra Archer bowled the costliest spell (4-0-76-0) in IPL history, beating the previous forgettable spell of 4-0-73-0 by Mohit Sharma for Gujarat Titans against Delhi Capitals last season was proof of the total dominance by the Sunrisers’ top-order.
Brief scores: 1st innings: Sunrisers 288/6 in 20 overs (Travis Head 67, Ishan Kishan 106 not out, Nitish Kumar Reddy 30, Heinrich Klaasen 34,
Tushar Deshpande 3/44) vs Rajasthan Royals.
