Sunrisers Hyderabad‘s expensive INR 13.25 crore buy Harry Brook finally made his first big impact on the IPL 2023 – and quite a big one: Harry Brook smashed the first century of IPL 2023.
The 24-year-old young England batsman hit a brilliant maiden IPL ton on Friday, at the Eden Gardens, against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in what was his fourth match of the season.
In his first three knocks, Harry Brook had recorded scores of 13, 3, and 13. Consequently, this led to doubts about whether he’d succeed in the IPL and in Indian conditions. However, the right-hander answered his critics and doubters with a belligerent century against a strong KKR bowling attack.
Harry Brook ransacked 100* runs in 55 balls with the help of 12 fours and 3 sixes
Brook’s century celebration was a special one. After reaching his century, in the last over of the innings, the batter had already been tired in the humidity in Kolkata, he did some small air fist movements before taking out his helmet and both the arms went up, soaking in the applause from the crowd and his teammates.
Watch: Highlights of Brook’s hundred and his special celebration:
Harry Brook was smart in picking his bowlers and in knowing his weaknesses and the opposition’s strengths. While he was in murderous touch against the pacers, when playing the spinners, the right-hander toned down his aggression and smartly rotated the strike. Attack on the spinners came from the other end, from skipper Aiden Markram and left-hander Abhishek Sharma, who batted at number 5.
Where against pacers, Brook whacked 66 runs off 26 balls, to spinners, he took 34 runs off 29 balls, shedding his ego aside and being proactive about which bowlers to attack.
During the mid-innings break, Harry Brook 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.”
