Opener Abhishek Sharma smashed an unbeaten 135 off 68 balls as Sunrisers Hyderabad posted 242 for two and beat Delhi Capitals by 47 runs in Match 31 of the Indian Premier League 2026 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium on Monday.
The left-hander struck his half-century off 25 balls and reached his ninth T20 hundred in 47 deliveries, pacing his innings before launching an aggressive assault. By the 15-over mark, he had moved ahead of Heinrich Klaasen in the Orange Cap race.
Hyderabad began steadily before accelerating. Nitish Rana briefly checked the scoring with off-spin in the Power-play, conceding six runs in an over as SRH reached 15 for no loss after two overs. But when he returned after the score moved to 36 without loss in four overs, he was hit for 20 runs, including three sixes, taking the total to 56 without loss.
Abhishek, who was on 21 off 12 at the time, shared a fluent opening stand with Travis Head as SRH reached 67 for no loss in the Power-play. The final ball of the phase brought up the team’s 70th six of the season, overtaking Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s tally of 69.
Head made 37 off 26 before falling at 97 for one in 8.5 overs, miscuing a delivery from Axar Patel to deep midwicket. The wicket did little to slow SRH’s momentum.
Ishan Kishan added a brisk 25 off 13 before being run out at the non-striker’s end, bringing Klaasen to the crease. Klaasen finished with 37 off 13 balls as SRH crossed the 240 mark.
In the middle overs, Kuldeep Yadav struggled as SRH raced to 126 for one in 11 overs. Despite conditions appearing conducive for reverse swing on a dry pitch, Delhi’s seamers, including Mukesh Kumar, failed to find movement.
Chasing 243, Delhi showed resistance but fell short after early lapses in the field, including dropped catches and a missed run-out. Bowling changes also hurt their cause, with Axar and Kuldeep delivering only two overs each, while Rana conceded 55 runs in four overs.
Rana top-scored with 57, while Sameer Rizvi made 41, but the effort was not enough.
The result gave Hyderabad their third successive win, lifting them to third in the standings ahead of Rajasthan Royals.
Brief scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 242/2 in 20 overs (Abhishek Sharma 135*, Travis Head 37; Axar Patel 1-23) beat Delhi Capitals 195/9 in 20 overs (Nitish Rana 57, Sameer Rizvi 41; Eshan Malinga 4-32, Harsh Dubey 3-12) by 47 runs.
