Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Ajinkya Rahane reached the 6000-run landmark as an opener in T20s with his knock against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Sunday in the IPL 2026 clash between the two sides.
Rahane produced a sizeable contribution in his side’s chase of 166 after KKR had bundled out SRH thanks to an incredible showing from the bowling unit.
SRH won the toss, and skipper Pat Cummins chose to bat first. Openers Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head gave the hosts a flying start with a 44-run partnership before Abhishek fell to Kartik Tyagi for 15 off 10 balls.
Ishan Kishan walked in to join Head, who raced to a half-century in just 22 deliveries. Head’s blistering knock ended when Varun Chakravarthy struck,
with Cameron Green safely pouching the catch offered by the Australian.
Heinrich Klaasen’s stay was cut short by a moment of brilliance from Rovman Powell, who pulled off a spectacular one-handed catch in the deep to dismiss the South African for 11 in Green’s over.
SRH then began to lose wickets in a cluster. Smaran Ravichandran was removed by Chakravarthy for a run-a-ball 4, with Ajinkya Rahane showing safe hands to complete the catch.
Chakravarthy then secured his third wicket as Rahane followed up with an even better catch to send Aniket Verma back for 6. KKR stalwart Sunil Narine claimed his 200th tournament wicket by bowling Salil Arora for just 2 off 6 deliveries.
The West Indies great struck again to dismiss Kishan for 42 off 29, with Anukul Roy taking the catch. Roy then accounted for Pat Cummins with a caught-and-bowled for 10, deepening SRH’s troubles.
Vaibhav Arora removed Shivang Kumar for just 1, with Angkrish Raghuvanshi taking the catch behind the stumps. KKR eventually bowled SRH out for 165, as Tyagi dismissed Harshal Patel for 6.
