Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) began their IPL 2025 campaign with an impressive victory, defeating Rajasthan Royals (RR) by 44 runs. Continuing from their strong performance last season, SRH delivered an explosive batting display, posting a daunting total of 286-6 in their 20 overs. Ishan Kishan was the standout performer, smashing a century. He remained unbeaten on 106 from just 47 balls, including 11 fours and 6 sixes. Travis Head also amassed a powerful knock, scoring 67 off 31 balls, with 9 fours and 3 sixes. Abhishek Sharma contributed 24 in 11 balls, while Nitish Reddy and Heinrich Klaasen played key cameos, scoring 30 off 15 and 34 off 14 balls, respectively.

SRH Sets a New IPL Record

SRH’s dominant batting performance set a new IPL record. They became the first team in the tournament’s history to have six top batters each scoring at a strike rate of 200 or above in a single innings. Kishan’s strike rate stood at a phenomenal 225.53, while Sharma, Head, Klaasen, Aniket and Reddy posted strike rates of 218.18, 216.13, 242.86, 233.33, and 200 respectively.

Rajasthan Royals fought valiantly to chase down the target and came close, but ultimately fell short. Sanju Samson played a brilliant knock, scoring 66 from 37 balls, while Dhruv Jurel made a quickfire 70 off 35 balls. Shimron Hetmyer chipped in with a cameo of 42 from 23 balls, and Shubham Dubey added 34 from 11 balls. However, RR ended their innings at 242-6, 44 runs behind SRH’s total.

SRH’s explosive batting performance has raised alarms for the other teams in the competition. The team followed a similar aggressive strategy in IPL 2024, reaching the final, though they were defeated by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).