The highest score in powerplay in IPL was made on April 20, 2024, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Sunrisers Hyderabad came out to bat, and their openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma didn’t ease into the game. They attacked from the first ball and didn’t stop. By the end of six overs, they had scored 125 runs without losing a wicket against Delhi Capitals.
This was not just an IPL record. It became the highest powerplay score in all T20 cricket. Before this, teams never got close to this kind of number in the first six overs.
A big part of this came from Travis Head. He alone made 84 runs in the powerplay from just 26 balls. That kind of score usually wins matches on its own, but here it came in just one phase of the innings. It also became one of the highest individual scores in an IPL powerplay, just behind Suresh Raina’s 87 back in 2014.
That day showed what can happen when two openers go all out without holding back. The 125-run powerplay is now a new mark. It changed how people look at fast starts in T20 cricket, especially when such explosive starts later turn into some of the highest team totals in IPL history.
The Historic 125 That Redefined IPL Powerplay Batting
Sunrisers Hyderabad came to bat, and openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma attacked from the first ball. They kept scoring quickly and reached 125 runs in the first six overs without losing a wicket against Delhi Capitals.
The start of the innings showed what was coming. In the first over, 19 runs came. Then 21 in the second. By the third over, Head was already smashing everything and reached his fifty in just 16 balls. In the fourth and fifth overs, Abhishek joined fully, hitting multiple sixes. By the end of five overs, the team had already crossed 100, which itself was a record for the fastest team hundred in IPL.
In the sixth over, Head finished it off by hitting four fours in a row and a six. When the powerplay ended, the scoreboard showed 125/0. The old record of 105, held by Kolkata Knight Riders since 2017, was gone easily.
That start decided the match. The opening pair added 131 runs in just over six overs. The team went on to score 266/7, one of their highest totals, and won the match by 67 runs. Performances like this often feature among highest score in IPL.
After the game, Head said he just reacted to the ball and kept things simple. Abhishek said batting with Head made it easier because there was no pressure from the other end.
| Rank | Team | Score | Opponent | Venue | Year |
| 1 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | 125/0 | Delhi Capitals | Delhi | 2024 |
| 2 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | 107/0 | Lucknow Super Giants | Lucknow | 2024 |
| 3 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 105/0 | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | Bengaluru | 2017 |
| 4 | Chennai Super Kings | 100/2 | Punjab Kings | Mumbai | 2014 |
| 5 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | 94/1 | Rajasthan Royals | Hyderabad | 2025 |
| 6 | Punjab Kings | 93/1 | Kolkata Knight Riders | Kolkata | 2024 |
| 7 | Delhi Capitals | 92/0 | Mumbai Indians | Delhi | 2024 |
| 8 | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 92/1 | Gujarat Titans | Bengaluru | 2024 |
Travis Head: The Left-Handed Powerplay Destroyer
When Travis Head walked out to open for Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2024, he didn’t play like a normal opener. He didn’t take time to settle. He started hitting from the first ball, and that changed how the powerplay looked that season.
The biggest moment came on April 20, 2024, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium against Delhi Capitals. Head scored 84 runs in just 26 balls inside the powerplay. That became the second-highest score by a batter in the first six overs in T20 cricket, only behind Suresh Raina’s 87 in 2014.
His full innings was 89 runs off 32 balls, with 11 fours and 6 sixes. He reached his fifty in just 16 balls. Knocks like this are often compared with the fastest fifties in IPL, where batters dominate within just a few overs. In the first three overs alone, he had already scored 52 runs, which is the most by any batter in that phase. Bowlers like Anrich Nortje, Kuldeep Yadav, and Axar Patel had no way to stop him.
This was not just one good match. The whole season went like this. Against Mumbai Indians, he made 62 off 24 balls and helped his team reach 277. Against Lucknow Super Giants, he stayed not out on 89 from 30 balls and finished a 166 chase in just 9.4 overs. In that game, the team scored 107 runs in the powerplay.
In a short span, Head scored 324 runs in 6 games, with an average of 54 and a strike rate of 216. He had three scores over fifty, including a hundred. His team crossed 250 runs three times in the season, which shows how much impact he had at the top.
His opening stand with Abhishek Sharma became one of the biggest reasons why SRH scored so many big totals. Together, they helped the team reach 250 or more runs three times in one season. They also hit 22 sixes in an innings more than once, which is among the highest in IPL.
How Head’s Bat Swing Creates Unsolvable Problems For Bowlers
When Travis Head started batting in IPL 2024, bowlers quickly realised this was not normal. In the powerplay, he scored at a strike rate of 209.4. That means even in the first few overs, captains had to spread the field early. Plans that usually work in the first six overs stopped working almost immediately.
The main problem for bowlers is his swing. As a left-hander, he creates a wide arc with his bat. Against fast bowlers, he clears his front leg and swings through the line. This turns even good-length balls into hitting chances. Against spin, he uses his reach to step out and hit before the ball can turn. So lengths that usually feel safe are no longer safe.
This puts bowlers in a tough spot. If they bowl wide to keep him away from the stumps, he still reaches and hits. If they bowl straight, he moves his front foot and hits through mid-wicket or long-on. If they try short balls, he goes on the back foot and pulls strongly. Every normal plan has a counter.
His numbers show how much pressure he puts on bowlers. He scored 567 runs in the season with a strike rate of 192.2. In the powerplay alone, he scored at over 200, including that 84 off 26 balls against Delhi Capitals. He also reached a fifty in just 16 balls.
Abhishek Sharma: The Homegrown Havoc Maker
When Travis Head was smashing bowlers in IPL 2024, the other end had Abhishek Sharma doing the same thing. For Sunrisers Hyderabad, this was not just one strong opener and one support player. Both were attacking, and that made them very hard to stop.
Abhishek’s big moment came in that same game against Delhi Capitals. He scored 40 runs from just 10 balls. He hit 5 sixes and 2 fours, which means 8 out of his 10 balls went for boundaries. His strike rate was 400. This was not just support batting. It showed that both openers could take over at any time.
Soon after that, he did it again against Lucknow Super Giants. In a chase of 166, he smashed 46 runs from 12 balls in the powerplay. The team reached 107/0 in six overs, which became one of the highest powerplay scores ever. It showed that he is not just strong against pace, but also against spin.
Then came 2025, where he went even bigger. Against Punjab Kings, he scored 141 runs from 55 balls. He hit 14 fours and 10 sixes, and 116 of his runs came only from boundaries. This became the highest score by an Indian in IPL history, going past KL Rahul’s 132*. It also became the third-highest IPL score overall, behind Chris Gayle and Brendon McCullum.
In that same match, he added 171 runs with Head. The team chased 246 runs and finished it with balls to spare. It became one of the highest successful chases in IPL history.
The Fastest Fifties and What Makes Abhishek Unstoppable Early On
On March 27, 2024, at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Abhishek Sharma had one of those days where everything worked. Playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Mumbai Indians, he smashed a fifty in just 16 balls. That became the fastest fifty in SRH history.
He didn’t just get to fifty fast. He kept going and finished with 63 runs from 23 balls. In that innings, he hit 3 fours and 7 sixes. The strike rate was over 270. This came against a bowling attack that had Jasprit Bumrah, but even he was not spared.
What made this even more interesting was that Travis Head also scored a 16-ball fifty that same season against Delhi Capitals. So both openers from the same team had the same fastest fifty record in one season. That had never happened before.
The reason Abhishek is so dangerous early on is not just because he attacks. It is how his bat moves. He is not a big, heavy player, but he still hits the ball very far. For example, he hit a 106-meter six against Marco Jansen in 2025. That shows his power comes from timing and swing, not just strength.
Another big reason is that he can hit all around the ground. He is not stuck playing in one area. In his big innings against Punjab Kings, he scored runs through cover, straight, and towards midwicket with ease. He even said he tries new shots depending on the pitch and bounce.
The “Travishek” Phenomenon and Why It Worked So Perfectly
When Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma opened together for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2024, it didn’t feel like a normal opening pair. It felt like bowlers had no clear plan from the first over itself. People started calling them “Travishek,” and it worked because everything about this pair made life hard for the opposition.
They scored 125/0 in the powerplay against Delhi Capitals and 107/0 against Lucknow Super Giants. These became the top two powerplay scores in IPL history, both in the same season.
- The first big reason it worked was the left-right combination. Every time a bowler delivered the ball, the angle changed for the next one. A line that works to one batter becomes easy to hit for the other. So bowlers could not settle on one plan. They had to keep adjusting every ball, and that broke their rhythm quickly.
- Then came the problem of field placement. With both batters hitting in different areas, it became impossible to cover the ground properly. In that game against Delhi, Head kept finding gaps on the off side, while Abhishek kept hitting towards the leg side. Fielders were always in the wrong place for one of them.
- Spin also stopped being a safe option. Normally, teams bring certain types of spinners for certain batters. But here, both players attacked from the start. When Delhi tried spin early, bowlers like Lalit Yadav were hit for big runs straight away. Even Kuldeep Yadav, who is one of the best wrist-spinners, was hit for multiple sixes in that match.
- Captains also lost control of their plans very quickly. Before the match, teams usually decide when to bring certain bowlers and how to set fields. But against this pair, those plans didn’t last long. When SRH reached 62/0 in just three overs against Delhi, Rishabh Pant had to change everything early. Bowlers were brought in out of order, and defensive fields came in too soon.
- The biggest impact was on the mind of the bowlers. When a team knows both openers can attack from ball one, pressure builds instantly. Abhishek himself said that when Head starts hitting early, it removes pressure from him. That freedom lets both players play even more attacking shots.
Other Explosive Pairs Who Shaped IPL Powerplay History
Before Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma changed the game in 2024 in IPL history, there were other opening pairs who had already shown what fast starts could look like in the IPL. Each pair did it in a different way. But all of them made teams rethink how to bowl in the first six overs.
Back in 2017, Kolkata Knight Riders tried something unexpected. At the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, they sent Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn to open against Royal Challengers Bangalore. It was a surprise move by Gautam Gambhir, and it worked straight away.
Narine smashed 54 runs from 17 balls, and Lynn added 50 from 22. Together, they reached 105/0 in six overs. At that time, it was one of the highest powerplay scores ever and stayed as a record for years. What made this special was not just the runs, but the shock factor. Narine was known as a bowler, so when he started hitting like that, bowlers had no idea how to react.
Then came a very different kind of pair in 2023 with Chennai Super Kings. At the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway showed that you don’t always need big swings to dominate.
They scored 79/0 in the powerplay against Lucknow Super Giants. Gaikwad made 57 and reached his fifty in just 20 balls, while Conway scored 47. Instead of hitting across the line, they played straight drives and clean shots. They built the innings step by step and still kept the scoring fast. It showed that timing and placement can work just as well as power.
In 2024, Delhi Capitals had their own big start with David Warner and Phil Salt. At the Arun Jaitley Stadium, they put together a 92/0 opening stand against Mumbai Indians.
Salt came out attacking and scored a fifty in just 15 balls. He even took on bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah early. At the other end, Warner played with more control, making 60 from 34 balls. While Salt kept hitting big shots, Warner made sure the innings stayed steady. When bowlers changed plans, they adjusted quickly. If spin came in, Salt attacked. If pace came back, Warner handled it.
SWOT Analysis of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma as an Opening Pair
Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma are a very dangerous opening pair because they attack from the start and score very fast, especially in the powerplay. Their left-right combination makes it hard for bowlers to settle. But they do have some weak points, like struggling against left-arm pace and spin at times, and they are not as strong in away matches. They get a big advantage at their home ground where the pitch suits batting, and strong players after them allow them to play freely. Still, teams now have clear plans to stop them, so how they handle those challenges will decide their success.
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
| They are left-right batters, so bowlers get confused. They score very fast in powerplay and have made big records. Both have very high strike rates and attack from the first ball. | They struggle against left-arm fast bowlers early. Abhishek has trouble with wide slower balls. Head sometimes gets out against spin. |
| Opportunities | Threats |
| Home ground in Hyderabad helps them score big runs. Pitch is good for batting, so they can play freely. Strong players like Heinrich Klaasen come after them. | Teams now know how to stop them using left-arm pace and spin. Away conditions like swing and dew can trouble them. If both get out early, the team loses momentum. |
What The Data Says About Powerplay Scores and Match Outcomes
If you look at IPL matches closely, one thing becomes very clear. The first six overs often decide how the match will go. It’s not just a good start. It usually decides who is winning and who is chasing the game.
The numbers show this clearly. When a team scores 60 or more in the powerplay, they win around 70% of the time. If it goes above 75, the chances go up to about 85%. And once a team crosses 90 in those six overs, they win almost 90% of the matches. So the higher the start, the harder it becomes for the other team to come back.
This is exactly what Sunrisers Hyderabad used in 2024. When they smashed 125/0 against Delhi Capitals, the game was already out of reach after six overs. They finished with 266/7 and won easily by 67 runs.
Their whole season followed this pattern. They had a powerplay run rate of 11.17, which was the highest ever for a season. They were hitting a boundary almost every three balls. They also hit 59 sixes just in the powerplay, becoming the only team to cross 50 sixes in that phase in one season.
So the pattern is simple. A strong powerplay gives control of the match. A poor powerplay puts the team under pressure for the rest of the game. That is why teams now focus so much on the first six overs, because many matches are already decided in that phase.
Can The Highest Score In Powerplay In IPL Be Broken In IPL 2026
Right now, the number to beat is 125/0. That came in 2024 when Sunrisers Hyderabad openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma tore apart Delhi Capitals in the first six overs. It looked unreal at the time, and even now it still feels very hard to reach.
Now IPL 2026 is coming, and the big question is simple. Can anyone actually go past 125?
The first thing to know is that the same SRH pair is still there. The team kept Head and Abhishek together, along with Pat Cummins and most of their core. So nothing has changed for them. Their style is still the same. If any pair is going to break 125, it is most likely them doing it again.
But they are not alone. Other teams now have strong opening pairs who can try. Royal Challengers Bengaluru have Phil Salt and Virat Kohli. Salt attacks from the start, while Kohli controls things and keeps the runs coming. That mix worked well in 2025.
Mumbai Indians bring back Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock. They have done this before, so they understand how to build and then explode in the powerplay.
Rajasthan Royals have Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Suryavanshi. Jaiswal already plays fast, and the young player adds fearless hitting. That kind of approach can suddenly produce a huge score.
But breaking 125 is not just about having good players. The math is simple and very tough. A team needs more than 20 runs every over for six overs. That means almost every over needs multiple sixes or a lot of fours. They also cannot waste balls. Only a few dot balls are allowed in the whole powerplay. The strike rate of the partnership needs to stay above 200 the entire time.
Final Words
What happened that night in Delhi was not just a record. Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma changed how teams look at the first six overs. Before this, the powerplay was about settling in. They turned it into a phase where the match can be decided straight away.
Cheteshwar Pujara summed it up clearly. He said no bowler wants to face this pair, and even compared them to the famous combo of Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli. It sounds like a big statement, but when you see how fast and how often they score, it makes sense.
At the same time, this didn’t start with them. Other pairs had already pushed powerplay batting forward. Back in 2017, Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn showed that even a bowler like Narine could open and destroy attacks. That surprise changed how teams think.
Now IPL 2026 comes in with one big question. Can 125/0 be broken?
Sunrisers Hyderabad will still feel they can do it again because they already know how. But teams like Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Mumbai Indians, and Rajasthan Royals all have strong pairs who can challenge it.
So, what do you think? Will this pair keep dominating, or will another pair take over in 2026? Tell your prediction below.
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