HOW THE MATCH UNFOLDED
Pat Cummins lost the toss, was sent in to bat, and within 20 balls realized that wasn't a problem at all. Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma — Travishek, as the cricket world has started calling them — opened with violence Hyderabad has come to expect on its flat Uppal deck. Abhishek calmly defended Arshdeep's first ball, then casually lofted the second over extra cover for six. Marco Jansen, given the new ball, was met with 6, 4, 6, 0, 4. Sunrisers raced to 50 in 3.2 overs.
Lockie Ferguson got Punjab back into the game by inducing a top edge from Abhishek (35 off 13), but Travis Head kept the pedal floored. By the end of the powerplay, SRH had 79/1 — their highest of the season, run rate 13.16. Then came the Klaasen-Kishan show.
Heinrich Klaasen and Ishan Kishan added 81 in 49 balls for the third wicket. Klaasen's footwork against Yuzvendra Chahal was particularly brutal: 25 runs off 12 balls. Ishan, meanwhile, finally found his form — his 55 was just his second fifty of the season after a torrid start. Nitish Kumar Reddy, fit again after illness, provided the finishing touch with 29* off 13, including back-to-back sixes off Arshdeep in the 19th over. SRH closed at 235/4 — their second-highest of the season.
PBKS CHASE: COOPER CONNOLLY'S LONELY CENTURY
236 to win. At Uppal, where SRH posted 277 last year and chased 247 — not impossible. But Pat Cummins had other ideas, and his captaincy in the first over decided the game.
Cummins gestured to mid-on to retreat to the rope, telegraphing a full delivery. He bowled a bouncer instead. Priyansh Arya, lulled into a pull, top-edged it into Eshan Malinga's bucket hands at deep backward square. Two balls later, Nitish Kumar Reddy's outswinger had Prabhsimran Singh top-edging straight to Cummins running back from mid-on. Prabh-Arya, the most feared opening pair in the league, were both gone in 7 balls.
Marcus Stoinis (28) and Cooper Connolly (107*) tried to repair, but Stoinis fell to a sharp Shivang Kumar googly caught by Kishan in the 8th over. From 57/4, the required rate climbed past 14, then 16, then beyond chase-able. Suryansh Shedge (25) and Shashank Singh (4) gave Connolly company in brief, but neither lasted.
COOPER CONNOLLY'S MAIDEN IPL CENTURY
For all of PBKS' troubles, the night belonged to Cooper Connolly. The 22-year-old Australian — playing only his fourth IPL match — composed himself superbly with the chase out of reach, reaching his maiden T20 century in the final over with a falling sweep over backward square leg off Shivang Kumar.
His 107 not out off 59 balls included 7 fours and 8 sixes. He hit Cummins for a four and six in the powerplay, took Eshan Malinga apart in the 16th over (back-to-back fours plus two sixes), and finished as the 12th-youngest Australian to a T20 century. PBKS finished at 202/7 — but 33 runs short. SRH have never lost defending a 220-plus total in IPL history. That stat held.
TOP PERFORMERS
🏏 SRH BATTING (235/4)
⚡ SRH BOWLING (PBKS 202/7)
🏏 PBKS BATTING (202/7)
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR THE PLAYOFF RACE
The win takes SRH to the top of the points table for the first time this season — 14 points from 11 matches. PBKS, who started IPL 2026 with seven straight wins, have now lost three in a row and slip to second on 13 points from 10 matches. Both sides remain firm playoff favourites, but the momentum has shifted decisively.
The middle order has been the question hanging over SRH all season. With Klaasen-Kishan firing on the same night for the first time, Pat Cummins now has the most balanced T20 squad in the tournament — Travishek up top, Klaasen-Kishan-Reddy in the middle, and the most varied bowling attack in the league. Sunrisers Hyderabad are now genuine title contenders.
WHAT'S NEXT
SRH travel to Ahmedabad next to face Gujarat Titans on May 9 — a top-of-the-table six-pointer. PBKS, meanwhile, host Delhi Capitals at their second home venue Dharamshala on May 8. Both fixtures could decide the top-two race.
