Sunrisers Hyderabad climbed to the top of the IPL 2026 points table with 14 points in 11 games as they registered a 33-run win over Punjab Kings at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
SRH posted a total of 235 runs riding on fifties from Heinrich Klaasen and Ishan Kishan after quick knocks at the top from Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head, before they limited PBKS to 202/7 as Cooper Connolly’s unbeaten 107-run went in vain.
PBKS won the toss and skipper Shreyas Iyer opted to field first as Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head opened the game for SRH. Abhishek smashed 35 runs in just 13 balls, but was removed by Lockie Ferguson as Ishan Kishan came out to accompany the Australian.
Head fell to Yuzvendra Chahal 38 off 19 with
Marco Jansen picked up his catch in the deep, before Heinrich Klaasen and Kishan took SRH into triple figures in the 8th over.
Kishan dealt in boundaries to bring up his half-century and take the side past the 150-run mark in the 14th over as Klaasen supported from his end, as the duo rode their luck thanks to some underwhelming fielding by Punjab.
Kishan was sent back to the hut for 55 by Arshdeep Singh, and Klaasen took charge of the innings with another half-century in the season. Klaasen notched up 69 runs in just 43 deliveries to power SRH to 235 runs before falling to Vyshak Vijaykumar, while Nitish Kumar Reddy remained unbeaten on 29 off 13.
PBKS’ chase got off to a woeful start as openers Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh and were scalped by Pat Cummins and Nitish Kumar Reddy for scores of 1 and 3 respectively. Shreyas fell early for 5 runs as Eashan Malinga removed the opposition captain to destabilise the visitors further.
Cooper Connolly held anchor with a brilliant half-century, even as PBKS lost another wicket with Marcus Stoinis being sent back for 28 off 14 by Shivang Kumar. Suyash hedge added 25 runs off 17 deliveries before SRH skipper Cummins got his second scalp of the night.
Shashank Singh fell prey to Shakib Hussain for 4 runs off 3 balls before Shivangi struck agin to dismiss Marco Jansen for 19 off 16 balls. Connolly produced a lone-ranger innings to get his maiden IPL ton which was ultimately a mere consolation.
