Sunrisers Hyderabad lifted themselves from the bottom of the points table after a convincing eight-wicket win over Punjab Kings in their third game of the IPL 2023 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Sunday night.

Chasing a modest 144 for victory that the visitors notched up thanks largely to PBKS skipper Shikhar Dhawan’s unbeaten 99 runs (66b; 12x4, 5x6), the Sunrisers romped home with 17 balls to spare. Rahul Tripathi 74 runs (48b, 10x4, 3x6) and skipper Aiden Markram 37 runs (21b, 6x4) put together an unbeaten 100-run partnership.

Shikhar Dhawan played one of the most memorable innings in the history of the IPL and was adjudged the Player of the Match. Wickets kept falling at the other end and he played a lone hand and missed a well-deserved century by just one run. His performance impressed Sunrisers Hyderabad’s head coach, the legendary Brian Lara as well. Speaking to JioCinema, Lara said, “I must commend Shikhar Dhawan. I think it is one of the best innings I’ve ever seen in T20 Cricket, the way he shepherd the strike and totally just controlled the game.”

JioCinema IPL expert Chris Gayle too spoke of Dhawan’s performance and said, “Shikhar was fantastic for his team, and when you keep losing wickets around you, it’s never going to be easy, and to hold the steady nerves and to actually get to that particular total and get to 99 as welI, and I thought he deserved a hundred and that’s one of the best innings you will ever see in the IPL as well.”

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