Published: April 11, 2026 at 9:34 pm
Sunrisers Hyderabad have the best opening pair in Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head but still the team has not been able to win matches in the IPL this season as consistently as one would expect. Sunrisers Hyderabad crashed to a six-wicket loss to Punjab Kings at the New International Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh.
In fact, Sunrisers have three best powerplay scores in the top five list. The highest is 125 which they scored against Delhi in 2024 and the next is the 107 they got against Lucknow in the same season. Saturday’s 105 with the fourth on the list.
On a hot Saturday afternoon, Sunrisers made a blazing start as the openers scored 105 in the powerplay, the first six overs of the innings. But they still ended up with 219 on the board as the others did not come to the party which was started by Abhishek and Travis.
Abhishek Sharma hammered eight sixes and five fours in his 28-ball 74 and added 120 for the first wicket with Travis Head (38)
Punjab too have an explosive pair in Priyansh Arya (57) and Prabhsimran Singh (51) who took up the challenge and posted 93 in the powerplay, 12 lesser than the Sunrisers. But what made the difference between the sides was Punjab skipper Shreyas Iyer. The Mumbaikar, after the fall of the openers, stood rock solid with an unbeaten 69 to steer his side home.
“We got a phenomenal start which is exactly what you need when chasing a target around 220 and the way the openers approached the powerplay was brilliant to watch. It was proper cricketing shot making and they read the rhythm of the pitch beautifully from the start. For me, it was about not rushing things and giving myself sometime in the middle to understand the pace of the wicket. Once I felt comfortable and gauged how the surface was playing, I knew I could capitalize on it. Thankfully it came together and we were able to maintain the momentum till the end,” said Shreyas Iyer, who was named the Player of the Match.
Sunrisers fail to come to the party after the powerplay
Sunrisers, on the other hand, did not have anyone to capitalize on the blazing start given by their openers. Sunrisers managed just 50 runs from their last five overs. They had kind of fallen away in the back two-thirds of their innings.
“We have a lot of confidence in our bowling because we have bowled very well in the powerplay so far. We have the perfect matchups for the batting Hyderabad has, and our plans are ready. Arshdeep has played a lot with their openers in domestic cricket and for India, so he knows exactly how to go about it. We are focusing on our execution to ensure we do well tomorrow,” Punjab Kings all-rounder Shashank Singh had said on the eve of the game.
Priyansh Arya (57) and Prabhsimran Singh (51) added 99 for the opening wicket to put Punjab Kings on the path of victory
However, all the plans went awry as the Punjab bowlers were not able to execute their plans. They were thrashed all around the park as Abhishek and Travis made merry. None of the frontline Punjab bowlers had an answer to the marauding Sunrisers. Abhishek was at his best as he struck eight sixes and five fours in his 28-ball 74. Travis was not far behind as he made a 23-ball 34 with five fours and a six.
Brad Haddin, Punjab’s assistant coach, nailed the equation. “I’m glad I’m not a bowler in the first six overs. The one thing we did really well after those first six was we stayed calm, got the game back. The middle overs… that’s where it was won. Ricky spoke to the players: they know their plans and just stay calm. Things might be bubbling up, but you know your plans. If you get a chance, you pounce on it, like they did here. It’s interesting to talk to batters about rotating strike – they say we don’t need to that anymore, we just put it in the second tier. They need to keep their courage and be brave in the first six covers, we’re very clear about our bowlers getting wickets… We’ve seen that in the game against Kolkata, against Finn and Green. The mindset is to get wickets, not be defensive,” he said.
Shreyas turns to Shashank, who does the trick
Shreyas came up with a brilliant move which derailed the Sunrisers’ innings. He brought on Shashank and the spinner took out both the openers in his second over. Thereafter, the Sunrisers struggled to get going. Skipper Ishan Kishan (27) was brilliantly caught by Marco Jansen on the boundary off Arshdeep Singh and Heinrich Klaasen was sleep walking through the innings. He never got going and ended up with a 33-ball 39. There as no acceleration at the death and that proved costly for Sunrisers.
Sunrisers Hyderabad congratulate Shreyas Iyer, who steered Punjab Kings to a six-wicket victory in New Chandigarh on Saturday afternoon. Iyer scored an unbeaten 69. Pics: BCCI
“I felt with the start we had in the middle overs we were looking at a score close to 250 and the batting in the beginning, especially in the powerplay was very good. In T20 cricket it always comes down to executing your good balls and that is where the difference was today. To be honest, 219 was a very strong total on this surface when you have three or four bowlers who know exactly what to bowl here. In modern cricket, defending totals is about understanding the longer boundary and trusting your skills but without execution, you end up leaking runs and giving credit to them for batting really well. There is no extra pressure on the batting unit because our approach stays simple score as many runs as possible take wickets when you can and keep learning from every game,” said Ishan Kishan.
Punjab players wear black armbands
Punjab Kings players wore black armband during the match as a mark of respect for those affected by the tragic boat accident in Vrindavan. The franchise stands in solidarity with the grieving families and the community during this difficult time.
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Brief scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 219 for six in 20 overs (Abhishek Sharma 74, Travis Head 38, Ishan Kishan 27, Heinrich Klaasen 39; Arshdeep Singh 2/50, Shashank Singh 2/20) lost to Punjab Kings 223 for four in 18.5 overs (Priyansh Arya 57, Prabhsimran Singh 51, Shreyas Iyer 69 not out, Shashank Singh 16 not out; Shivang Kumar 3/33).
