Head says Hyderabad eyeing 300, Bengaluru’s Maxwell takes a break

NEW DELHI: After breaking the Indian Premier League’s highest total record for a second time this season by racking up 287 runs on Monday, Sunrisers Hyderabad are now looking to breach the 300-mark, their in-form opener Travis Head said.

Hyderabad set a new mark last month by posting 277-3 against Mumbai Indians but bettered that by making 287-3 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, the Pat Cummins-led side winning the match by 25 runs.

Head set the tone against Bengaluru with a fiery 102 off 41 balls while South African Heinrich Klaasen made a breezy 67. “(Our total) needs a three in front of it, does it now?” Head said at the end of the Hyderabad innings on Monday. “We’ve got guys like Klaasen, (Abdul) Samad and Nitish (Kumar Reddy)... We’ve got some power through the middle, and we want to keep just putting the foot down as much as we can.

Former champions Hyderabad are now fourth in the points table following their fourth win in six matches. Bengaluru, led by South African Faf du Plessis, dropped to the bottom of the 10-team league following their sixth defeat in seven matches.

Their Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell, who did not play against Hyderabad, subsequently announced he was taking a break to get his body right after his poor start to the season, which included three ducks in six innings.