Kolkata : Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) snatched their first victory against the hosts Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) with a total of 226/8, winning the match by 65 runs. KKR faced back-to-back losses in their first two matches of the Indian Premier League 2026 season, failing to chase 227 and ending up all out for 161. Both teams started their campaigns with defeats, but SRH made a strong comeback in the tournament with a dominant and impressive win against KKR.
The match began with KKR winning the toss and choosing to bowl first. The power-packed duo of Abhishek and T. Head came out to begin the innings as openers. Both dominated the powerplay before the first wicket fell—T. Head was dismissed, caught by Cameron Green and bowled by Kartik Tyagi, after scoring a quick 46 in just 21 balls. Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) reached 84/1 at the end of the powerplay, which became SRH’s fifth-best powerplay total (84/1). Varun came into the attack in the 5th over, and Abhishek played aggressively, scoring 25 runs in that over, making it highly expensive. Captain Ishan, who came in at No. 3, was dismissed for 14 off 9 balls by Blessing Muzarabani. In the same over, Muzarabani also took Abhishek’s wicket, who had scored 48 off 21 balls—a fantastic over by him. Then A. Verma came in but got out for 1 off 4 balls, dismissed by Anukul Roy. After that, Klaasen and Nitish Kumar Reddy built a crucial and steady partnership that helped SRH cross the 200 mark. Nitish was dismissed for 39 off 24 balls by Vaibhav Arora, while Klaasen played a brilliant knock of 52 off 35 balls before being dismissed by Muzarabani. H. Bhuvi scored 9 off 3 balls, and S. Kumar added 4 off 2 before being dismissed on the last ball of the innings by Muzarabani. Compared to the last match, KKR’s bowling lineup performed better. Muzarabani took 4 wickets in 4 overs, conceding 41 runs. Vaibhav Arora picked up 2 wickets, while Kartik Tyagi and Anukul Roy took one wicket each. However, SRH still managed to post a high total of 226 on the board for KKR to chase.
The second innings started with Finn Allen, the New Zealand batter who scored a fantastic century in the T20 World Cup 2026 semifinal on this very same ground, opening alongside captain Ajinkya who was playing his 200th TATA IPL game. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) got off to a great start, with Allen scoring quickly, but he was dismissed early—caught and bowled by Harsh Dubey after scoring a rapid 28 off just 7 balls. Then A. Raghuvanshi came in at No. 3. Ajinkya was dismissed for 8 off 10 balls, and Cameron Green followed. A devastating error occurred due to miscommunication between Green and Ankrish, leading to Green being run out for just 2 off 2 balls. Rinku Singh came in next, but another miscommunication resulted in Raghuvanshi’s dismissal after a brilliant 52 off 29 balls. Raghuvanshi once again impressed with a back-to-back half-century performance(KKR vs MI: 51 runs in 29 balls and KKR vs SRH: 52 in 29 balls). Rinku Singh scored 35 off 25 balls before being dismissed—caught by Jaydev Unadkat and bowled by Nitish Kumar Reddy. Anukul Roy was dismissed for a duck by Nitish. Ramandeep scored 10 off 9 balls before getting out. Sunil Narine hit two consecutive sixes but was dismissed soon after while attempting another big shot—caught by Aniket Verma and bowled by Ishan Malinga. Kartik Tyagi scored 5 off 5 balls, Varun got out for 0, and KKR were eventually bowled out for 161. Their chase was hampered by key wickets lost due to miscommunication and their inability to build steady partnerships.
SRH’s bowlers delivered an excellent performance. Jaydev Unadkat, Ishan Malinga, and especially Nitish Kumar Reddy stood out. Nitish had a fantastic all-round impact on the game—building a crucial partnership with Klaasen (39 off 24 balls) and delivering a tight bowling spell of 2 for 17 in his 2 overs. He was deservedly named the Man of the Match.
SRH made a strong comeback after their earlier setback, showing power-packed batting and a much stronger bowling performance to finish the match convincingly and register their first win of the 2026 IPL season. SRH will play their next match on April 5 against LSG, while KKR will face PBKS on April 6. KKR will need to address their drawbacks before their upcoming matches.
