Sunrisers Hyderabad bounced again brilliantly from their defeat towards Royal Challengers Bengaluru to thrash the Kolkata Knight Riders by 65 runs, opening their account in IPL 2026. Towards RCB, SRH’s bowling had seemed off-colour because the Challengers chased down 202 in simply 15.4 overs.
At Eden Gardens, nonetheless, the Sunrisers’ bowlers stepped up, dismissing the Knight Riders for 161 in 16 overs and redeeming themselves in model. The win additionally boosted SRH’s internet run fee and, extra importantly, their morale after the sooner thrashing.
Ishan Kishan got here beneath strain as captain after the match towards RCB however responded brilliantly, securing his maiden win as IPL captain.
The Knight Riders, in the meantime, had begun the season with a heavy loss to Mumbai Indians, and this defeat pushed them all the way down to ninth within the factors desk. Their bowlers had been taken to the cleaners, and the batting lineup faltered beneath strain, shedding wickets at common intervals throughout the chase.
MI vs KKR, IPL 2026: Updates | SCORECARD
For the primary time since 2012, the Knight Riders have begun their marketing campaign with back-to-back defeats. Curiously, in that 12 months, they went on to win the title. It stays to be seen whether or not they can flip issues round this time after such a shaky begin.
ABHISHEK, HEAD GO BERSERK
The Sunrisers made a thunderous begin after being requested to bat first, with Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head wanting ominous from the outset. Vaibhav Arora bowled a tidy first over, however from the second over onwards, Abhishek and Head went berserk within the powerplay. The duo added 82 runs in simply 5.4 overs handy SRH the right platform.
Sunrisers piled up 84 runs within the powerplay, the best by any staff this season thus far. Head was dropped on 34 by Ajinkya Rahane, however the miss didn’t show too pricey for KKR as Kartik Tyagi eliminated him for a blazing 46 off 21 balls simply when he seemed set to take the sport away.
Varun Chakravarthy had a forgettable outing, leaking 25 runs in his first over and never even being trusted to finish his quota, ending with figures of 2-0-31-0. SRH, in the meantime, raced to 100 in simply 7.2 overs and at one stage seemed able to crossing 250.
KLAASEN TAKES SUNRISERS PAST 200
Nevertheless, Blessing Muzarabani sparked KKR’s comeback within the ninth over. After conceding 16 runs in his first over, he bounced again brilliantly by dismissing Ishan Kishan and the harmful Abhishek Sharma in the identical over. Abhishek, who smashed 48 off 21, fell to a pointy diving catch by Varun, who at the least discovered some redemption within the subject.
Anukul Roy then joined the social gathering by eradicating the harmful Aniket Verma, leaving SRH at 118 for 4 after they’d earlier cruised to 82 for 1.
Nitish Reddy and Heinrich Klaasen steadied the innings with a vital 82-run stand, Sunrisers’ highest-ever fifth-wicket partnership in IPL historical past. Vaibhav ultimately broke the stand by dismissing Nitish for 39 off 24, after which eliminated Salil Arora in the identical over to briefly threaten a hat-trick.
Klaasen then took cost within the loss of life overs, scoring 52 off 35 balls with 4 fours and a six to energy SRH to 226 for 8. Muzarabani was the decide of the KKR bowlers with spectacular figures of 4-0-41-4.
ALLEN, RAGHUVANSHI KEEP KKR IN HUNT
The Knight Riders couldn’t have requested for a greater begin as Finn Allen got here out all weapons blazing. David Payne was taken aside within the opening over, leaking 25 runs. Nevertheless, SRH struck again immediately after introducing spin within the second over, with Harsh Dubey pulling off a pointy caught-and-bowled dismissal to take away Allen for a shocking 28 off simply seven balls.
After Allen’s early departure, Angkrish Raghuvanshi was promoted to No.3 forward of Cameron Inexperienced, and he mixed with Ajinkya Rahane to maintain KKR’s chase on monitor. The Knight Riders held a slight edge at that stage, racing to their fifty in simply 3.2 overs. Raghuvanshi continued his spectacular run of kind, backing up his fifty towards MI with one other brisk half-century, this time reaching the milestone off simply 27 balls.
Rahane, although, endured a scratchy keep, managing solely eight runs off 10 balls earlier than Jaydev Unadkat lastly ended his keep on the crease. KKR suffered one other setback when Cameron Inexperienced was run out off the ultimate ball of the powerplay. Initially, it seemed like Raghuvanshi was the one quick, however replays later confirmed it was Inexperienced.
KKR CRUMBLE UNDER PRESSURE
Debutant Shivang Kumar impressed in his maiden IPL outing, bowling with management and conserving issues quiet regardless of conceding a boundary off the final ball of his first over. He was unfortunate in his second over as a few misfields resulted in boundaries, serving to KKR cross the 100-run mark within the ninth over.
With 117 wanted on the midway stage, the competition remained nicely poised. However KKR had been dealt an enormous blow when Raghuvanshi, who had a forgettable day whereas working between the wickets, was run out for 52 off 29. Thereafter Nitish Reddy eliminated Anukul Roy to depart Rinku Singh with a mountain to climb.
As soon as Rinku departed within the 14th over, it was at all times going to be a tall order for the Knight Riders. Sunil Narine started his knock with back-to-back sixes of Nitish, however his keep was short-lived when Malinga dismissed him.
Thereafter, Malinga and Unadkat comfortably cleaned up the tail as Sunrisers dismissed the Knight Riders with out breaking a sweat. After leaking 35 runs towards RCB, Malinga responded brilliantly with two essential wickets, serving to SRH stage a robust comeback.
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