Travis Head made an unbeaten 89 off 30 balls as Sunrisers Hyderabad put on 167 from just 58 balls in a dominant 10-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League; Head features for Australia in the men's T20 World Cup, live from June 1-29 on Sky Sports Golf
Thursday 9 May 2024 08:41, UK
Travis Head insists there’s no guarantee that his devastating batting form in the Indian Premier League will continue at the T20 World Cup next month, live on Sky Sports.
Head has decimated bowling attacks in the IPL this year but the Australian tempered expectations ahead of the T20 World Cup in the West Indies and United States, where turning tracks could make batting tougher.
Sunrisers Hyderabad batsman Head has scored 533 runs in 11 IPL matches so far, with only Virat Kohli (542) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (541) above him, with his aggressive approaching leaving him one to watch at the T20 World Cup.
Head made an unbeaten 30-ball 89 as Hyderabad thumped Lucknow Super Giants by 10 wickets with 62 balls to spare on Wednesday, but insisted his blistering form on flat Indian wickets would not automatically translate to similar pyrotechnics elsewhere.
"Whenever you're playing, you want to be as consistent as you can, you want to be getting runs," Head said. "It's nice to be playing well [but] that's not going to guarantee anything in the West Indies.
"I think we'll face a fair bit of spin in the Caribbean and the wickets might become tougher as the tournament goes on.
"I'm very pleased I was able to play spin tonight and the things I'm working on in training are somewhat working at the moment. But I'm trying to stay relaxed as I have done for the last couple of years and be ready to go."
Hyderabad, who posted the biggest IPL total earlier this season with 287-3 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, chased down Lucknow's total and finished with 167 without loss - the highest 10-over score in men's T20 cricket.
Head's opening partner Abhishek Sharma made an unbeaten 75 from 28 balls, with the duo smashing a combined 14 sixes and 16 fours.
"I'm lost for words," Lucknow skipper KL Rahul said. "We've watched that kind of batting on TV, but this was unreal."
Prior to the World Cup, England's four-match T20 series with Pakistan is live on Sky Sports and begins at Headingley on May 22, with further fixtures at Edgbaston (May 25), Cardiff (May 28) and The Oval (May 30).
Buttler's side will fly to the Caribbean on May 31 and begin their title defence against Scotland in Barbados on June 4, ahead of playing Australia at the same venue on June 8.
Australia open against Oman on June 6 and also play Namibia (June 12) and Scotland (June 16). England play in Antigua on June 13 and Namibia in the same place two days later, with the top two from Group A then progressing to the Super 8s.
Australia T20 World Cup squad: Mitchell Marsh (captain), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa
Watch every match in the 2024 Indian Premier League live on Sky Sports or stream with NOW. Every match from the 2024 T20 World Cup is then live on Sky Sports Cricket from June 1-29.
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