The race to finish as the leading run-getter in the ongoing 17th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has intensified with several players staking a claim one after the other. While Virat Kohli is at the helm with 542 runs to his name, a whirlwind 89 off 30 has helped Travis Head move extremely close to the table-topper.
Head, as he has been doing this season, turned plenty of heads on Wednesday (May 8), when he smashed eight fours and as many sixes to hand Sunrisers Hyderabad their seventh win of the ongoing edition of the cash-rich league.
The southpaw batted at a strike rate of 296.66 and ripped Lucknow Super Giants' bowling attack to shreds. He has now accumulated 533 runs to his credit and is just inches away from surpassing Kohli.
Notably, both Head and Kohli have three games left in the league stage; therefore, a tug of war, is on the cards. On the other hand, Ruturaj Gaikwad has also found a resurgence after a slow start and is among the top contenders to bag the Orange Cap at the end of the season.
The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper is just a run behind Kohli and can pretty easily run away with a sizeable lead at the top if his form stays the way it is at the moment.
Orange Cap Leaderboard:
| S. No. | Player | Matches | Innings | Runs | Average | Strike rate | Highest | 100s | 50s | 4s | 6s |
| 1. | Virat Kohli | 11 | 11 | 542 | 67.75 | 148.08 | 113* | 1 | 4 | 48 | 24 |
| 2. | Ruturaj Gaikwad | 11 | 11 | 541 | 60.11 | 147.01 | 108* | 1 | 4 | 57 | 16 |
| 3. | Travis Head | 11 | 11 | 533 | 53.30 | 201.89 | 102 | 1 | 4 | 61 | 31 |
| 4. | Sanju Samson | 11 | 11 | 471 | 67.28 | 163.54 | 86 | 0 | 5 | 44 | 23 |
| 5. | Sunil Narine | 11 | 11 | 461 | 41.90 | 183.66 | 109 | 1 | 3 | 46 | 32 |
