Back-to-back defeats were mentally draining: SRH batter Abhishek Sharma

Losing four back-to-back matches was weighing on opener Abhishek Sharma's mind and he wanted to "break that streak" and help Sunrisers Hyderabad emerge from the string of defeats, which had pushed them to the bottom of the points table.

Abhishek, who had been going through a poor run of form, scored a breathtaking 141 off 55 balls as SRH scripted the second-highest run chase in IPL history to return to winning ways with a comprehensive eight-wicket win over Punjab Kings in a high-scoring encounter here on Saturday.

"This one is very special, because I wanted to break that losing streak. Losing four back to back matches was very tough. But we never talked about it in the team. Special mention to Yuvi paji (Yuvraj Singh) and Suryakumar (Yadav) as well. They have been in touch with me," said Abhishek whose knock helped SRH chase down a massive 245/6 with nine deliveries to spare.

He said the atmosphere in the team never changed despite the defeats, which was one of the reasons SRH could chase down the big total.

"The atmosphere was simple even though the batters were not doing well," he said.

With his parents watching from the stands, there was all the more reason to give a sterling performance.

"I have been waiting for them. My whole team was waiting for my parents because they've been lucky for SRH," he said.

The opener added that the easy-paced wicket gave him options to invent and innovate his shots.

"If you have seen me close enough I never play behind the wicket. But I was wanting to invent a few shots which was very easy on this wicket. It helped us both (him and opening partner Travis Head). We didn't talk anything. It was just natural play for (both of) us. The partnership boosted me up," he said.

SRH skipper Pat Cummins said that his bowlers has few options to stop the flow of runs early on as the wicket was very docile.

"I think you don't have too many options, it's a good wicket, the slower balls aren't really reacting, ball pings around here, so you just try."  The Australian pacer said he was a big fan of Abhishek's batting.

"Yeah, I'm a pretty big fan of Abhi. Look, we spoke about it before the match. We've been really happy with how everyone's going and training and the form, it just hasn't clicked.

"So we didn't want to change the recipe or tear it apart. We just keep concentrating on what makes us good players and Abhi showed that first hand. The batting group particularly played quite a bit here last year. And there's a real confidence," he added.

To make 245 and still end up losing the match, is something unexpected and PBKS skipper Shreyas Iyer found himself in that situation at the end of the match.

"It was a fantastic total (PBKS made). It has been making me laugh with the way they have chased it with two overs to spare. We could have taken two exceptional catches.

"He (Abhisek) was a bit lucky as well even though he played an exceptional knock. Catches win you matches and we fell short there. We didn't bowl well but we have to go back to the drawing board. The way he smashed the ball and the opening partnership was great.