Sunrisers Hyderabad moved to the top of the IPL 2026 points table after beating Punjab Kings by 33 runs in Match 49 at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Wednesday, May 6. Both teams missed chances in the field, but PBKS paid a much heavier price for their errors.
SRH left with 235 for 4, including Heinrich Klaasen‘s 69 off 43 and Ishan Kishan‘s 55 off 32. Nitish Kumar Reddy was the man with his sharp finish of 29 not out off 13. Chasing 236, PBKS could only manage 202/7. Cooper Connolly had a great unbeaten century but found no one to partner him. Pat Cummins was declared the Player of the Match for his 2 for 34 and two catches.
SRH’s Blazing Start Set the Platform
Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma gave SRH a flying start. Abhishek defended the first ball of the innings and lofted the second over extra cover for a six. He then turned his guns on Marco Jansen, firing 6-4-6-0-4 in one over. SRH took the stunning lead with 50 runs in 3.2 overs.
Abhishek scored 35 off 13 balls while Head made 38 off 19 before Yuzvendra Chahal got him with a wrong’un miscued to long-off. The powerplay ended with SRH on 79 for 1, well ahead of their already impressive average powerplay rate this season.
After the openers departed, Klaasen and Kishan took over. Kishan was given three chances — two drops and a missed stumping — on scores of 9, 18, and 19. Klaasen was also dropped on 9. PBKS paid dearly for every miss. The two stitched an 88-run stand in eight overs. Kishan thumped Vijaykumar Vyshak for three straight sixes in the 14th over to bring up his fifty off 28 balls.
Klaasen reached his fifty off 32 balls and finished with 69 off 43. Reddy’s late hitting took SRH to a formidable 235.
PBKS Top Order Collapsed Early
Punjab Kings needed a strong start from their top order. They did not get it. Pat Cummins’ sharp captaincy saw Priyansh Arya fall in the first over. He signalled mid-on to go back to the rope, suggesting a full ball, then bowled a bouncer that Arya mistimed to deep backward square leg.
Nitish Kumar Reddy struck with his first ball, getting Prabhsimran Singh to top-edge a fuller delivery straight up, with Cummins taking a good catch running back from mid-on. Both openers were gone in seven balls. Shreyas Iyer followed soon after, caught at mid-off off Eshan Malinga for just 5. Marcus Stoinis offered brief resistance, taking PBKS to 57 for 3 after six overs.
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Connolly’s Hundred Came Too Late
Cooper Connolly, in his maiden IPL season, batted through the innings as wickets kept falling around him. He reached his fifty off 34 balls, but by that point the required rate had already crossed 16.
SRH’s bowlers made life difficult with slower balls into the pitch. Harsh Dubey and Shivang Kumar, the two left-arm spinners, controlled the flow while Jansen struggled to find his timing.
Connolly reached his century in the final over with a falling sweep against Shivang over backward square leg, finishing unbeaten on 107 off 59. But the second-highest PBKS score in the innings was only 28, and that gap proved decisive.
SRH’s victory propelled them to the league’s No. 1 spot with 14 points, whereas PBKS have kept the third straight losing streak with 13 points in the IPL 2026 point table. SRH’s next game is against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad on May 12. PBKS next play Delhi Capitals on May 11.
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