Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) secured a commanding win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their IPL 2026 clash, by defeating the Pat Cummins-led side by seven wickets while chasing 166 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, on Sunday, May 3.
SRH skipper Pat Cummins won the toss and elected to bat first against Ajinkya Rahane-led side, which turned out to be a backfiring decision as they endured a middle-order collapse against disciplined bowling effort from Sunil Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy.
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Sunrisers Hyderabad's contrasting batting performance
In the first innings, SRH got off to a flying start, as they raced to 71/1 inside the powerplay, powered by an explosive start from Travis Head, who smashed 61 off just 28 balls. He got solid support from Ishan Kishan, who gathered 42 runs off 29 balls. The foundation was laid for a massive total, especially with the team coming off a recent record-breaking streak.
However, the middle and lower order endured a batting collapse as KKR's mystery spinner seized control of the game. Varun Chakaravarthy (3/36) and Sunil Narine (2/31) dismantled the SRH batting lineup, with Narine completing 200 wickets in IPL during his spell. From a strong position, SRH lost seven wickets for just 51 runs, crumbling for 165 in 19 overs. Dependable finishers like Heinrich Klassen failed to provide late-innings flourish, departing quickly as KKR's disciplined bowling turned a promising start into a restricted total.
Strong batting performance from KKR
In response, KKR got off to a balanced start, posting 55-1 with Finn Allen dismissed after quick 29 off 13. Coming to bat at No.3 Angkrish Raghuvanshi stitched a match winning partnership with skipper Ajinkya Rahane (43 off 36), as the 21-year-old scored 59 off 47. SRH skipper Pat Cummins proved to be very expensive with the ball, finishing the game with 1/47 in four overs at an economy rate of 11.75.
Rinku Singh finished the game with a rapid 22 runs off 11 balls, with the help of two fours and one six. Cameron Green stayed unbeaten on 3 off three balls to guide KKR to cross the finish line. This was KKR's third win of the ongoing IPL 2026 season. Now the Kolkata-based franchise will face Axar Patel's Delhi Capitals (DC) on friday, May 8 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.