At just 23 years old, Aniket Verma has only played three T20 matches so far. However, during last Sunday’s game, he proved why Sunrisers Hyderabad has such high confidence in him. Despite his team struggling for the second consecutive game in IPL 2025 and their aggressive tactics failing to produce results, Aniket’s impressive performance of 74 runs off 41 balls helped them reach a total of 163. This was after Mitchell Starc’s early three-wicket haul had caused them to stumble in the powerplay.
During his innings, Aniket impressively made five fours and six sixes while partnering with Heinrich Klaasen for a 77-run stand in just 40 balls. This remarkable feat came after SRH had a shaky start, finding themselves at 37 for 4 by the fifth over.
Following Abhishek Sharma’s run-out in the opening over for casually taking a single, Starc claimed Ishan Kishan with a deep third slash, local player Nitish Reddy fell to an off-cutter at mid-on, and Travis Head was caught by new Delhi Capitals player KL Rahul behind the stumps.
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Head’s wicket couldn’t have come at a better time. He wasted no time, hitting two consecutive fours off Starc. The first was an impressive drive through the line, followed by a powerful shot down the ground. Starc then changed his approach and aimed for Head’s ribs from around the stumps. Despite this change, Starc’s persistence paid off in his third over as he finally dismissed his target.
Aniket started off with a stroke of luck on his side. During the fourth over, he narrowly escaped being run-out as Tristan Stubbs missed the target at the striker’s end while the batter had already given up. Then, in the sixth over, Aniket got lucky again as Abishek Porel failed to catch his leading edge off Axar Patel, after running back from extra cover.
Aniket made the most of his opportunity by hitting Axar for consecutive sixes in his second over. Meanwhile, Klaasen’s precise understanding of the pitch allowed him to score more runs. He initially sent Starc packing with a six and later followed it up by smashing a boundary through the off side when the length was adjusted.
Klaasen seemed to have things under control until Mohit Sharma’s change of pace and length caught him off guard. The catch was brilliantly taken by Vipraj Nigam, who had to make a quick circle back from point. This left SRH at 114 for 5 in 10.5 overs. The downward trend continued as Kuldeep Yadav also joined in the wicket-taking action, finishing with a total of 3 for 22.
Following Cummins’ dismissal, Aniket caused quite a stir with an intense barrage of 4, 6, 6 against Axar. However, his reign was short-lived as he was ultimately caught by the remarkable athleticism of Jake Fraser-McGurk at deep midwicket. And yet, Axar’s own incredible dive to his left at mid-off to catch a rocket hit from Harshal Patel was equally impressive, as it resulted in SRH being dismissed within the first 20 overs. Starc ended the match with five wickets to secure the win.
