Heinrich Klaasen top scored for Sunrisers Hyderabad with 69 off 43 balls against Punjab Kings. | Photo Credit: NAGARA GOPAL

In a contest between two of the most devastating batting units in the IPL, the side that got the job done with the ball and on the field triumphed – a stark reminder of why the basics can never be forgotten no matter how much pomp and splendour become the norm.

A brilliant batting effort, helped in no small measure by Punjab Kings’ benevolent butter fingers in the field, helped Sunrisers Hyderabad to 235, a total its bowling unit guarded with ferocity to ring in a 33-run victory at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, and top the table.

Put in to bat, Abhishek Sharma launched into Marco Jansen while Travis Head dismantled Arshdeep Singh with disdain, with the chatter of an unfavorable matchup reduced to a mere footnote.

Sunrisers skyrocketed past the 50-run mark in just 3.2 overs – their third fastest ever – before Lockie Ferguson broke through to remove Abhishek. Head fell to Yuzvendra Chahal’s googly but not before pushing SRH past 70 in the PowerPlay for the seventh time this season, the most by any team.

And then, the misfielding ‘virus’ (as PBKS coach Ricky Ponting called it) struck.

Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen – stuttering on nine apiece – were granted reprieves by Cooper Connolly and Shashank Singh, respectively. Kishan particularly got off easy, with Ferguson shelling a chance and Prabhsimran botching a routine stumping. The pair expressed their gratitude with brisk half-centuries to set a 236-run target.

The PBKS chase anticlimactically unravelled before it could begin.

Priyansh Arya failed to get hold of a short delivery from Pat Cummins, Eshan Malinga completing a sharp catch in the deep. Nitish and Eshan Malinga then saw off Prabhsimaran Singh and Shreyas, respectively, with Cummins pouching both catches.

Around the halfway mark, PBKS snapped up 35 runs off two overs of spin and beads of sweat suddenly emerging on the foreheads of the men in orange. Connolly stitched key partnerships with Marcus Stoinis, Suryansh Shedge and Jansen, refusing to throw in the towel despite the procession at the other end.

Connolly maiden T20 hundred, in the end, might have brought down the margin of defeat, but couldn’t save the Kings from a worrying third loss on the trot.

Published on May 06, 2026