Published: May 3, 2026 at 8:09 pm
Sunrisers Hyderabad burnt themselves under the blazing heat to hand out visitors Kolkata Knight Riders a seven-wicket win at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad on Sunday afternoon. It remains to be seen how much impact this loss will have on their top four chase.
With the temperatures in the city soaring past 40 degrees in the past few days, it was like playing in a cauldron. Sunrisers, who won the toss and elected to bat under the searing conditions, began in a rousing fashion.
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Openers Abhishek Sharma (15) and Travis Head blasted 44 off 22 balls to send the temperature in the stands soaring even higher. After Abhishek’s departure, caught by Cameroon Green off Kartik Tyagi, Head and Ishan Kishan upped the tempo. The duo went after the Kolkata attack with Head giving Sunil Narine some special treatment.
Ishan Kishan made a steady 42 but wickets fell at regular intervals as Sunrisers lost eight wickets for 60 runs in the last 10 overs
The duo added 61 off 32 balls to set up Sunrisers for a solid 200+ total. But once Head fell at 105, there was a complete transformation in the game. Head, who topscored with 61 off 28 balls with nine fours and three sixes, was caught by Green of Varun Chakravarthy.
Sunrisers suffer a great collapse
Thereafter, one witnessed one of the greatest collapses as the middle-order and tail caved in meekly. The hosts lost eight wickets for 60 in the last 10 overs. And that was the most un-Sunrisers thing once could ever think of. From a soaring 105 in nine overs, Sunrisers were brought down to the earth as they crashed out for 160 in 19 overs.
“Not our best day. We got off to a pretty good start. From where we were, we should have found a way to get 200 or 180. You’ve just got to adapt. Our first eight or ten overs were excellent. I think 180 or something like that (was par). It did dry up. We dragged it right to the end. There is only little moments that can make the difference,” said Sunrisers skipper Pat Cummins.
Ishan Kishan (42) was the seventh wicket to fall as the rest of the cast withered away in the blazing heat.
Varun Chakravarthy was the pick of the bowlers as he finished with three for 36. Fellow veteran spinner Sunil Narine became the third bowler to reach 200 IPL wickets and the first overseas bowler to the milestone. He is also the first one to do it for a single franchise. Yuzvendra Chahal leads the table with 228 wickets and is followed by Bhuvneshwar Kumar with 215 wickets. In third place is Sunil Narine with 200 wickets and he is followed by Piyush Chawla (192) and Ravichandran Ashwin (187).
Kartik Tyagi took two for 30 as Kolkata Knight Riders staged a remarkable comeback with the cherry to decimate the Sunrisers’ innings.
Sunil Narine joins IPL’s 200-wicket club, first to achieve milestone with a single franchise
“It’s just the impact pain. Still, I’m not able to put my foot fully down. He hit it very fast, and I had to stop it as he hit it very straight; otherwise, it would’ve been a four. I’ve been saying this every year. When the IPL starts, the first four matches are going to be flat wickets. Because Head was extending his hands very well, I didn’t want him to do that. The guys are coming together. Nice to see the batting group finish it this way. We can make a serious dent in the IPL,” said Varun, who was named the Player of the Match.
Indian badminton star PV Sindhu soaks up the atmosphere at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Sunday afternoon
Kolkata Knight Riders too got off to a flying start with Finn Allen (29; 13 balls) taking down Pat Cummins in the 4th over. Allen struck Cummins for two sixes and two fours as the Sunrisers captain conceded 27 in that over but he had the last laugh as Allen was caught by Klaasen off the last ball.
Rahane and Raghuvanshi kept Knight Riders on track
Skipper Ajinkay Rahane and Angkrish Raghuvanshi then kept Kolkata on track for a victory with an 84-run partnership off 66 balls. Though Rahane (43) and Raghuvanshi (59) fell, Rinku Singh (22 not out) and Cameroon Green finished the formalities as Kolkata made 169 for three in 18.2 overs.
Angkrish Raghuvanshi scored 59 to steer Kolkata Knight Riders home. Pics: BCCI
“It was a good wicket to bat on. I thought 190-200 would have been difficult to chase. Credit to our bowlers. They kept on taking wickets. The bowling unit has been doing really well. Credit goes to our bowling coaches. It’s all about planning and executing. As long as you’re clear in your head, that’s important. Going into the break, the victory was very important. We lost those five matches, but the atmosphere was calm. We kept it really cool. Really happy for Varun. The way he came back was amazing. Works really hard. Great attitude. He has been bowling in the tough situations. I’m sure he’ll continue his performance,” said Rahane.
Brief scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 165 in 19 overs (Travis Head 61, Ishan Kishan 42; Varun Chakravarthy 3/36, Sunil Narine 2/31, Kartik Tyagi 2/30) lost to Kolkata Knight Riders 169 for three in 18.2 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 43, Finn Allen 29, Angkrish Ranghuvanshi 59, Rinku Singh 22 not out).
