Three 100-Plus Powerplays, No Other Team on Earth Has Done It Twice — SRH Break the World Record and Lose Anyway

The result did not go Sunrisers Hyderabad’s way on Saturday — but in the first eight overs at Mullanpur, they produced the most spectacular batting exhibition of IPL 2026, and in doing so etched their name into cricket’s record books in a way that no team in T20 history had managed before.

A World Record That Was Already Theirs — And They Extended It

Before Saturday, Sunrisers Hyderabad were the only men’s T20 team to have crossed 100 runs in the powerplay twice. Their 125/0 against Delhi Capitals in the 2024 IPL and 107/0 against Lucknow Super Giants in Hyderabad the same year were already feats that stood entirely alone in T20 cricket.

Against Punjab Kings at Mullanpur, Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head did it a third time.

SRH’s powerplay read 105/0 in six overs — the highest powerplay score in IPL 2026, overtaking the previous best set a day earlier by RR against RCB. No other men’s T20 franchise on Earth has crossed 100 in the powerplay even twice. SRH have now done it three times.

The Abhishek Sharma Show: Seven Powerplay Sixes and a Record Club

Abhishek Sharma arrived at the crease in his team’s Mullanpur cauldron and immediately went to war. He scored 74 off 28 balls — eight sixes and five fours — with seven of those sixes coming in the powerplay alone.

In doing so, he joined the most exclusive club in IPL powerplay history:

Four men. Eighteen years of T20 cricket. Seven sixes in a powerplay — and Abhishek now stands alongside names like Jayasuriya and Buttler in that list.

His first fifty arrived in under 20 balls — his fifth sub-20-ball half-century in IPL history, a record he holds outright.

Most sub-20-ball fifties in IPL history

Head and Abhishek: A Partnership That Is Redefining the Powerplay

Travis Head’s 38 off 23 balls — five fours and a six — provided the ideal foil for Abhishek’s carnage. The pair added 120 runs in 8.1 overs before Shashank Singh broke the stand in the same over that dismissed both of them.

The partnership illustrated why SRH’s batting blueprint is so difficult to contain. Head forces fielders back in the powerplay with his lofted drives, and Abhishek exploits the gaps left in the short ball zones. When they are on song simultaneously, the equation becomes almost unfair for the bowling side.

When the Powerplay Party Ended, the Problems Began

The concern for SRH after such a start is how often this story has had a familiar second half. Their powerplay reads like a world-record-setting batting ensemble. Their overs seven through twenty in this IPL have told a different story.

After 120/0 off eight overs, SRH finished at 219/6 — adding only 99 off the remaining 12 overs for the loss of six wickets. PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer’s decision to bring on Shashank Singh as a pace-off option immediately after the powerplay delivered two wickets in one over and changed the match’s direction entirely.

SRH captain Ishan Kishan was candid.

“We could have ended with a total of 250, the way we started. At the same time, we were not so good with the execution. 190 is a par score here, we could have had 240. When you don’t execute balls, you have nothing — you just end up giving 10-20 runs.”

The contrast with their powerplay brilliance is stark. Three matches in 2026, SRH have scored the tournament’s highest powerplay total, equalled the IPL record for most powerplay sixes in an innings — and lost all three games.

SRH’s Playing Eleven

Praful Hinge made his IPL debut, replacing Jaydev Unadkat in the SRH side. Salil Arora replaced Liam Livingstone — an indication that SRH are still searching for their best combination in the bowling department. Pat Cummins was unavailable, handing the bowling unit a further challenge in the death.

World No. 1 T20I batter Abhishek Sharma has now scored 74 in this match after a duck against LSG — proving once again that when he fires, he fires unlike any other batter in the competition. The next challenge for SRH is ensuring the innings that comes after his blaze carries the weight it needs to.