Kolkata: Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Abhishek Sharma (PTI Photo) Abhishek Sharma found himself in the limelight for the wrong reason despite Sunrisers Hyderabad putting up a dominant performance against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens. The all-rounder was fined 25 per cent of his match fees and handed one point for breaching the IPL code of conduct during Thursday’s clash. Abhishek pleaded guilty to a Level 1 offense under Article 2.3 and accepted the sanction imposed by the match referee. Under IPL rules, decisions on Level 1 infringements are final and binding. The disciplinary action came on a night when SRH was otherwise clinical across departments. Heinrich Klaasen anchored the innings with a composed 52 off 35 balls to guide his side to an impressive 226/8 after being put into bat. SRH’s innings was built on an explosive start from Travis Head and Abhishek who put together 82 runs in just 34 balls. Abhishek himself looked good, smashing 48 off 21 deliveries and going at the KKR spinners with intent. However, a wobble in the middle order saw SRH lose momentum briefly before Klaasen and Nitish Kumar Reddy leveled things up with a crucial 82-run partnership to ensure the total remained well out of KKR’s reach. In reply, the much-discussed batting line-up of KKR failed. Ajinkya Rahane once again struggled at the top while Angkrish Raghuvanshi’s fluent 52 lacked support from the other end. A series of poor partnerships and costly run-outs derailed the chase as KKR were bowled out for 161 in just 16 overs. The SRH bowling unit shared the spoils with Jaydev Unadkat, Ehsan Malinga and Nitish Kumar Reddy making key breakthroughs. Despite Blessing Muzarabani taking four wickets, KKR never recovered from the chaotic middle phase. While SRH celebrated a convincing 65-run victory to return to winning ways, Abhishek’s penalty adds a slight blemish to an otherwise impressive outing for the young all-rounder.
