Harry Brook, the rising young batsman from England, made history in IPL 2023 by becoming the first player to score a century. He had been struggling with low scores in the tournament and was under pressure to justify his high price tag of INR 13.25 crores. However, the 24-year-old delivered an outstanding performance in the final over of the day, hitting a single off Umesh Yadav’s delivery to reach the coveted milestone.
Brook was one of the most anticipated players in the tournament but had received criticism for his initial scores of 13, 3, and 13. Nevertheless, he made a remarkable comeback with an unbeaten 100 off 55 balls, including 12 fours and three sixes, leading his team, the Sunrisers Hyderabad, to the highest total of the season, 228-4.
In addition to Harry Brook’s outstanding performance, his team’s skipper Aiden Markram and Abhishek Sharma also excelled in the match. Markram smashed 50 runs off just 26 balls, and he shared a 72-run partnership with Brook, who added another 72 runs with Sharma. Among the bowlers, Andre Russell was the standout performer with figures of 2.1-0-22-3. The team’s wicket-keeper and batsman, Heinrich Klaasen, also played a crucial role in the team’s victory, remaining unbeaten at 16 off six deliveries, which included two boundaries and a maximum.
Harry Brook: “Wanted to use the powerplay to my advantage”
After achieving his first-ever IPL century, Harry Brook acknowledged his previous difficulties with facing spin bowlers, and stated that he chose to play it safe and let the other batters take on the spin. The right-handed batsman also shared that his girlfriend had joined him for the tournament, and he believes that his family will be ecstatic about his performance.
In the mid-innings break, the centurion said,
“I’ve had a bit of trouble with spin, but I wanted to use the powerplay to my advantage. So middle overs wanted to rotate strike and let the other boys do the hitting. It is a belter of a pitch, we need to bowl our lengths rightly and take wickets. We still got a job to do. My girlfriend is here but the rest of my family have just left, I’m sure they’ll all be very happy for me.”