Mitchell Starc was breathing fire in the Powerplay. There was a hint of movement, and he exploited it, running through the top order of the Sunrisers Hyderabad batting lineup with three quick wickets to reduce them to 37/4.
Starc made the new ball talk. Ishan Kishan tried to slash at a delivery moving away but ended up hitting it straight to Tristan Stubbs, stationed at deep backward point. In the same over, Starc outfoxed Nitish Kumar Reddy with a clever cutter. Travis Head, who was once again looking dangerous, soon became Starc’s third wicket.
A young Aniket Verma walked in ahead of Heinrich Klaasen at No. 5. Given this batting promotion in only his third IPL game, Aniket grabbed the opportunity with both hands. The moment he dispatched a boundary off Starc over midwicket, the youngster looked set for a big innings.
He was given a reprieve early in his innings when he was dropped by Abhishek Porel off Axar Patel’s bowling in the sixth over. Aniket made them pay by smashing 74 off just 41 balls. His footwork against the spinners was excellent. On a relatively slow wicket and against the quality spin duo of Axar and Kuldeep Yadav, he showed no fear in taking them on.
It’s a rare sight when a player outshines Heinrich Klaasen, with Klaasen playing second fiddle in a partnership. However, in the 77-run stand between the two, 42 runs came off the bat of the 23-year-old, who dominated the partnership. Aniket’s clean hitting made Klaasen take notice. His ball-striking was of the highest order – no wild slogging, just well-timed shots as he got into good positions and picked his areas to hit.
With this innings, Aniket proved he’s not just about big shots. He can adapt to the situation and ensure the run rate doesn’t dip. In the previous game, he scored 36 off 13 balls, and in this one, he hit 74 off 41 balls. Aniket is growing stronger with each match.
Safe to say, in Aniket Verma, SRH has found a new six-hitting machine, making their batting even more dangerous.