Head slams maiden IPL ton as Sunrisers make record score

A brutal century by Travis Head has blasted Sunrisers Hyderabad back into the Indian Premier League play-off places in another match for bowlers to forget. 

One of the few who may remember it with any affection is Sunrisers captain Pat Cummins, who went for more than ten-an-over but took three wickets. 

Head's second T20 hundred (after his dazzling New Year's Eve effort for Adelaide Strikers in 2015) was the fourth fastest in IPL history, reaching the milestone off 39 balls. His 102 was the launchpad for Hyderabad to make 3-287, bettering their own IPL record of 3-277 set earlier this season.

Yet they only won by 25 runs as Royal Challengers Bengaluru recovered from 6-181 in the 15th over to finish on 7-262. The 549-run aggregate was easily the highest in IPL history.  

"I feel like I wish I was a batter," said Cummins. "If you bowl an over for seven or eight it feels great.

"I'm really happy with our cricket, the freedom with which the batters are going out to play is great and few wily bowlers doing the job as well."  

Head's blistering ton included eight sixes and nine fours. The Australian left-hander pounded the fast bowlers, notably New Zealand's Lockie Ferguson (2-52), who had a forgettable first game of the season as Bengaluru's ploy not to go with a specialist spinner backfired. 

Head raised his half-century off 20 balls and completed his century off the next 19 before finally holing out off Ferguson to mid-off. 

"The pitch played beautifully," he said. "We thought we had to take the license to go."  

Of his own batting he added: "It's not the prettiest thing in the world but I'm pleased with how I struck the ball today." 

"It was unbelievable, special knock," said teammate Heinrich Klassen, who added 57 in 26 balls with Head, making 67 himself off 31 balls.  

Abdul Salam (37no off 10) and Aiden Markram (32no in 17) then smashed 46 runs off the last two overs, bowled by Reece Topley (1-68) and Vijaykumar Vyshak (0-64). 

Head was then subbed out, enabling him to have a "nice little bit of food, a shower and put my feet up." 

Out in the middle Faf du Plessis (62) and Virat Kohli (42) helped the home team to a rollicking start of 79 in the batting Powerplay. 

But Cummins dismissed du Plessis caught down the leg side, and then sliced through the middle order. 

Dinesh Karthik plundered 83 off 35 balls to keep the game alive, but though Anuj Rawat (25no) hit four boundaries in the last over off Bhuvneshwar Kumar (0-60) the task was simply too great. RCB's fifth loss on the spin leaves them bottom of the table.

IPL 2024 standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Ties T	No results N/R	Net Run Rate NRR	Deductions Ded.	Total points PTS
1 Rajasthan Royals RAJ	9	8	1	0	0	0.694	0	16
2 Kolkata Knight Riders KKR	9	6	3	0	0	1.096	0	12
3 Chennai Super Kings CSK	9	5	4	0	0	0.81	0	10
4 Sunrisers Hyderabad SUN	9	5	4	0	0	0.075	0	10
5 Lucknow Super Giants LSG	9	5	4	0	0	0.059	0	10
6 Delhi Capitals Men DEL	11	5	6	0	0	-0.442	0	10
7 Gujarat Titans GUT	10	4	6	0	0	-1.113	0	8
8 Punjab Kings KXI	9	3	6	0	0	-0.187	0	6
9 Mumbai Indians MI	9	3	6	0	0	-0.261	0	6
10 Royal Challengers Bengaluru Men RCB	10	3	7	0	0	-0.415	0	6

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

T: Ties

N/R: No results

NRR: Net Run Rate

Ded.: Deductions

PTS: Total points

Australians in IPL 2024

Delhi Capitals: Mitch Marsh (A$1.2m), David Warner (A$1.16m), Jhye Richardson (A$890,000), Jake Fraser-McGurk (A$92,000)

Gujarat Titans: Spencer Johnson (A$1.78m), Matthew Wade (A$446,000)

Kolkata Knight Riders: Mitchell Starc (A$4.43m)

Lucknow Super Giants: Marcus Stoinis (A$1.7m), Ashton Turner (A$178,000)

Mumbai Indians: Tim David (A$1.53m)

Punjab Kings: Nathan Ellis (A$135,000)

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Cameron Green (A$3.15m), Glenn Maxwell (A$2m)

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Pat Cummins (A$3.67m), Travis Head (A$1.2m)

*Prices in AUD, conversions correct at time of auction

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