Mayank Agarwal and Vivrant Sharma. (Photo Source : BCCI/IPL)
The action continues to enchant fans and experts alike in the IPL 2023 as Mumbai Indians are taking on Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday, May 21 at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. MI captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl first. However, the decision back-fired big time as SRH openers Mayank Agarwal and Vivrant Sharma put on a century stand for the first wicket. Notably, it turned out to be the highest partnership for SRH in the ongoing season.
The duo of Agarwal and Vivrant surpassed the match-winning 100* stand off 52 balls between Rahul Tripathi (74* off 48) and Aiden Markram (37* off 21) for the third wicket against PBKS during match 14.
The 23-year-old Vivrant Sharma started the proceeding in style by scoring a boundary against Jason Behrendorff in the first over. In the third over, Agarwal took on the left-arm seamer by clobbering him for back-to-back boundaries. The duo continued the attack throughout the powerplay and scored 53 runs in the first six overs.
Vivrant outscored Agarwal as he reached his half-century in the tenth over against Chris Jordan completing the landmark in 35 balls. He became the third youngest half-centurion for SRH. The duo brought up their 100-run stand in 66 balls as Agarwal smacked Kumar Kartikeya for a boundary.
Mayank Agarwal also brought up his first fifty of the season with another boundary against Behrendorff reaching the landmark in 32 balls. At the other end, Vivrant continued his magnificent exhibition of strokes all around the ground. He finally got dismissed in the 14th over against Akash Madhwal while trying to pull a short delivery.
Vivrant Sharma scales highest individual score in IPL debut innings by Indian
The opening batter departed after a brilliant innings of 69 off 47 balls smashing nine fours and two sixes in his innings. Notably, it’s the highest score by an Indian batter in his debut innings of the IPL. Vivrant surpassed Swapnil Asnodkar’s (RR) 60 vs KKR in Jaipur during IPL 2008.
The opening stand finally ended on 140 in 83 balls as SRH got off to a blistering start. Meanwhile, Twitter was abuzz with reactions to the brilliant opening stand between Agarwal and Vivrant.