IPL 2024 RCB vs SRH: Travis Head says SRH targeting to score 300 in 20 overs soon

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) batter Travis Head said the team will strive to score 300 runs in their 20 overs and set a new benchmark for themselves.

For the second time in a fortnight, Sunrisers Hyderabad went on a rampage and broke their own record for the highest IPL total when they amassed a massive 287/3 in their 20 overs against a listless Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) bowling attack. The previous highest total in the IPL was also by SRH, when they scored 277/3 against Mumbai Indians on March 27.

The architects of SRH’s carnage were Travis Head, who scored 102 in 41 balls, with Heinrich Klassen smashing 67 off just 31 balls, while Abdul Samad struck at an impressive strike rate of 370 to finish on an unbeaten 37 off just 10 balls.

Crediting captain Pat Cummins and head coach Daniel Vettori for installing confidence in the opening batters to go for the kill, Head said the plan is to take every game on and score a 300 pretty soon. “Our scores need a 3 in front of it, doesn’t it now? It’s proper batting. We want to be exciting all the time and take the game on. Pat (Cummins) and Dan (Vettori) put pressure on the batting line-up so that we maximise the powerplay and keep going,” the Australian said.

Head said a blockbuster middle order would go a long way in helping the franchise realise their dreams of putting up big scores. “We’ve got guys like Klaasen and Samad, and then Nitish, who didn’t even get a hit today. We got some power through the middle, and we want to keep putting the foot down as much as we can. We know that’s not always a guarantee, but as of now, we are setting up really well in each game to get ourselves a score that we need,” the SRH opener explained.

The 30-year-old said he was happy to have made a useful contribution in a record-breaking effort. It was a nice wicket, nice to get away in the powerplay and make the most of it. We spoke about it leading into the game that we need individuals to step up at certain times. And I was able to contribute at the right time,” he concluded.

The top-three totals in the IPL have come this season, giving a glimpse of how the batters have gone about dominating. While the top two positions were taken by SRH, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) took the third spot after they scored 272/7 in their 20 overs against the Delhi Capitals in Visakhapatnam on April 3.