In the 2026 IPL, SRH became the first team to win while defending.

Apr 2, 2026, 11:05 PM

It's finished

Varun inside-edges a yorker onto the stumps in his final ball. That's all. This season, SRH is the first side to win while defending a target. However, in order to do so, they had to record the season's highest total of 226 for 8, and even that didn't seem secure at one point. Ultimately, SRH wins by 65 runs, which is a huge victory.

Nitish Kumar Reddy struck twice in two overs

Apr 2, 2026, 11:00 PM

KKR's resistance is ended by Malinga

Malinga makes sure that no miracle is taking place. In the fifteenth over of the innings, he dismisses Ramandeep and Narine. Ramandeep gets taken at point and Narine holes out to long-on, both off slower balls.

Tyagi is caught behind by Unadkat in the following over. The batter chose the review, but it was useless. KKR is now at 161 for 9.

Apr 2, 2026, 10:46 PM

Despite Rinku's collapse, KKR doesn't lose up.

Picking up his second, Reddy bowls from around the wicket once more. Rinku mishandled the cut to short third on this slower one. He leaves for 35 off 25.

Narine, a new hitter, hits a six with his first ball over deep midwicket. Narine targeted long-on as Reddy went full next. Dubey eventually palmed it over for six more since he was never content there.

On the opposite end, Ramandeep Singh is also a skilled ball hitter. Are the two able to summon something?

KKR need 76 out of 6.

Apr 2, 2026, 10:31 PM

Raghuvanshi is eliminated

Tonight, there is a third confusion involving Raghuvanshi. He is the one who is run out this time. Shivang's delivery was a bit of a good length. When the ball turned in, Rinku was constricted as he retreated to cut. Before Rinku noticed there was no run, it went straight to backward point and both hitters took off. Malinga sent the ball to the bowler, who did a good job of catching it and breaking the wicket, while Raghuvanshi was halfway down and unable to turn around in time.

Reddy catches new hitter Anukul Roy from around the wicket in the following over. It's now SRH's game to lose because KKR still needs 107 from 52 balls.

Apr 2, 2026, 10:27 PM

SRH's subpar ground fielding

Bowlers find it a challenging surface, and SRH's subpar ground fielding is making it even harder for them. Shivang Kumar delivered the ninth over, when Harsh Dubey overran a delivery, handing up four instead of two. Payne misfielded at short third two balls later, giving up three when he should have just given up one. Reddy gave up a boundary on the following delivery after over-running an inside-out shot from Rinku.

At the midway point, KKR has reached KKR 110 for 3 after ten runs in the subsequent over. Raghuvanshi reached his fifty off 27 balls in the midst of all of this.

KKR need 117 out of 10.

Apr 2, 2026, 10:11 PM

Unfortunately, a green run-out

For KKR, the powerplay ends poorly. After driving Malinga's fifth over back to the non-striker, Green took off. The ball struck his bat because Raghuvasnhi was unable to fully move him out of the way. He collided with Malinga, who was trying to get the ball, at around the same moment. Green was nearly behind Raghuvasnhi when he looked up, so he decided to go. After gathering the ball, Malinga threw it to the custodian. Raghuvasnhi's dive saved him when it went a little off course.

On the next ball, however, KKR were less fortunate. Raghuvanshi drove it back at the bowler this time and took off. However, both hitters hesitated for a second before opting to attempt a run after Malinga stopped them with his boot. However, the ball was close to the stumps. Malinga smashed the wicket after picking it up. Raghuvanshi, who was sprinting in the direction of the non-striker's end, first appeared to be out. While the umpire referred the verdict upstairs, he became displeased and began to walk back. When the wicket was put down, the TV umpire discovered that the batters were ready to cross. Green had to walk back as a result.

KKR 74/3 following six

Apr 2, 2026, 9:58 PM

Rahane, struggling, leaves

KKR's chase is on course thanks to Raghuvanshi's impressive 29 off 13 balls. Rahane, however, is having difficulty on the other end. Eventually, Unadkat uses a slower ball to get him. Rahane pulls in the wrong direction toward midwicket. Malinga completes the catch with a slide after sprinting in from deep.

KKR 67/2 following five

Apr 2, 2026, 9:47 PM

Dubey gets rid of the risky Allen

When Allen attempted to repeat the feat, he toe-ended it, and Dubey made a superb return catch. Allen had hammered the opening ball from Dubey down the ground for four. Allen leaves with a score of 28 off seven balls.

Kishan hands the next over to another left-arm fingerspinner, Abhishek, with Raghuvasnhi at No. 3. Raghuvanshi, however, hits his second ball over wide long-on for a six. Raghuvanshi hit the final ball over backward square leg for a six, but Abhishek recovered well and gave up two singles in the following three balls.

KKR 48/1 following three

Apr 2, 2026, 9:41 PM

Finn Allen dissects David Payne

The two are against each other here, although they recently won the BBL together for the Perth Scorchers. Malinga has been brought in by SRH for Head, and Allen has joined Muzarabani as an Impact Player.

Allen goes 4, 4, 6, 6, 4 after Rahane singles off Payne. Recall that he hit 100 not out off 33 balls against South Africa during the T20 World Cup with the identical strip.

KKR 25/0 following one

Apr 2, 2026, 9:20 PM

SRH ends at 226 for 8.

Muzarabani's final over was exciting; it began with a wide, contained three fours, and claimed two wickets. Klaasen reached his fifty off 34 balls with the second of those fours. However, he collapsed on the subsequent ball. With a first-ball four to start his IPL career, Shivan Kumar was removed the next ball.

SRH finished with 226 for 8, the greatest total of the season thus far, while Muzarabani finished with 4 for 41.

Apr 2, 2026, 9:15 PM

Arora restricts the harm

W W 1w 1 1 4 4

Reddy and Salil Arora are removed off the first two balls of the 19th over by Vaibhav Arora, limiting the damage. Salil is bowled with an almost-yorker, and Reddy holes out to deep point off a slower bouncer.

Even though Klaasen only had to deal with one ball in that over, Harsh Dubey's two fours off the final two balls made it an 11-run over.

SRH 211/6 following 19

Apr 2, 2026, 9:06 PM

Reddy and Klaasen step up

Up until the last delivery, which was in Reddy's slot, Arora bowled a superb 17th over. He hit a six by launching it over the bowler's head.

Klaasen attempts a sequence of reverse laps against Tyagi in the following over. He missed the first one, but he hit the second one, which sailed over deep third for a six. On the third occasion, Tyagi saw the batter getting ready for the reverse lap once more and refused to let the ball go.

Tyagi missed his yorkers in the second half of the over. Reddy took full advantage of that, picking up consecutive fours by flicking away the low full throw and pulling the high one. Another high full toss was the over's last ball. Varun missed the opportunity at deep midwicket, but Reddy was unable to middle it.

Those two overs yielded twenty-five.

SRH 200/4 following 18

Apr 2, 2026, 8:56 PM

Can SRH take the initiative?

In Narine's last over, which goes for 13, Klaasen and Reddy each score a boundary. Figures of 0 for 39 mark the end of the spinner. However, Tyagi concedes just seven in the following over.

SRH 175/4 following 16

Apr 2, 2026, 8:39 PM

Reddy and Klaasen combine

With just 45 runs from the final six overs, SRH has entered a consolidation phase following three quick wickets. The score rate is still a healthy 11.07 because of the early carnage. You would think, however, that it's time to shift gears.

SRH 155 for four after fourteen

Apr 2, 2026, 8:25 PM

KKR has returned to the game

Rahane substitutes left-arm spinner Anukul Roy with two fresh hitters in the middle. At the stumps, he darts in the fist ball. Aniket is slapped on the pads because she is running late. Outside off is the following ball. Rinku is fast across the ground and finishes the catch well inside the boundary line after Aniket lofts it to the left of long-off.

Reddy enters at number six. SRH has reached 123 for 4 after ten overs, despite only five runs from the over.

Apr 2, 2026, 8:24 PM

The double-strike by Muzarabani

In the ninth over, Kishan struck Tyagi for three consecutive fours before Blessing Muzarabani came out to catch him at deep cover. Kishan chased for the short ball and struck it flat. Right on the verge of the boundary line, Rinku Singh caught it. Kishan scored 14 out of 9.

Muzarabani also sends Abhishek back after two balls. Abhishek pushed the slower ball in the direction of deep square leg, where Varun dove forward to make a low grab. After several replays, the TV umpire determined that Varun had his fingertips below the ball, therefore it was referred upstairs.

Klaasen and Aniket are our two new middle batsmen.

SRH 118/3 following 9

Apr 2, 2026, 8:13 PM

The batting paradise, Eden Gardens

Eden Gardens has had the greatest scoring rate of any venue that has played five or more IPL games since the beginning of 2023, at 9.95.

Apr 2, 2026, 8:04 PM

Narine versus Abhishek

One of the few batters who has dominated Narine is Abhishek. And tonight, the pattern is still in place. He pulls him over deep square leg two balls after cutting him to the cover boundary.

At a strike rate of 196.96 for one dismissal, their head-to-head record currently stands at 65 runs off 33 balls.

SRH 98/1 following seven

Apr 2, 2026, 8:03 PM

Tyagi offers a breakthrough

With a four, Head invites Kartik Tyagi to join the assault. Tyagi tries a slower ball after a wide, and it goes over extra cover for a six. However, Tyagi finally makes the breakthrough as Head misplaces an on-pace delivery to mid-on. Head made 46 out of just 21.

Ishan Kishan is ranked third.

SRH 84/1 following six

Apr 2, 2026, 7:57 PM

From both ends, spin

Sunil Narine rarely bowls as early as the fourth over. However, Rahane uses his trump card in light of the two left-hand batters in the middle and the way Head dismantled the seamers. Narine also comes close to taking a wicket. Rahane tries to go under it as he causes Head to make a mistake that swirls over the covers. Despite his best efforts, the ball avoids him despite the dive. However, the over only lasts three.

Rahane might be inspired to bring in Varun Chakravarthy from the opposite end by that. Varun is more of a legspinner than Abhishek, who had trouble with offspin during the World Cup. Abhishek dismantles him, slashing twice past cover-point for fours after muscling two sixes over long-on.
Both pace and spin have been used extensively. Now, what comes next?

Abhishek 33 off 13, Head 36 off 17, SRH 71/0 after 5

Apr 2, 2026, 7:45 PM

Arora is very fat, and tall Muzarabani is too short

1 4 4 1 0 6 4 0 6 6 4 1w 0

In the opening game of the tournament, Jacob Duffy used the short ball to dismiss the SRH hitters. The similar approach is attempted by Blessing Muzarabani, but it fails. Head uses covers to hit him for consecutive fours. Initially, it appears that Muzarabani gave too much space.

Abhishek receives another short ball from Muzarabani to end the over. For the first six of the evening, he waited for it and pulled it over deep midwicket.

Head clubs Arora for two fours and two sixes off the first five balls when he makes a mistake on the fuller side in the third over. Arora is referred to as a wide when it goes short because it is excessively high. In the end, he was able to strike the batter with a hard length, defeating Head's attempt to provide space for the cut stroke.George Binoy continues, "Arora had given Head the first ball in the 2024 final and then cheaply in their first game in 2025."In today's second game, which was a dead rubber, Head destroyed Arora in Delhi.

Their head-to-head score is 22 balls, 49 runs, and 2 dismissals.

SRH 43/0 following three

Apr 2, 2026, 7:34 PM

Arora's early swing

Although Vaibhav Arora lacks expressiveness, he is capable of moving the ball, as demonstrated in the opening over. He beat Head's outside edge with his first three deliveries, moving away from him. However, his final ball was on the body and too slow. For four, Head hauled it in front of the square.

SRH 6/0 following one

Apr 2, 2026, 7:29 PM

Shivang Kumar is who?

Deivarayan Muthu dissects it.

In India, left-arm wristspinners are an uncommon breed. Even less common are left-arm wristspinners who can bat. Madhya Pradesh resident Shivang Kumar is an expert in both areas.

After making an impression in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Shivang reached new heights in the 50-overs Vijay Hazare Trophy, defeating Karnataka in Ahmedabad with a five-for. Then, on March 21, Shivang took 2 for 39 in his four overs, including Liam Livingstone, in an intra-squad practice match on a level Hyderabad pitch where 282 played 253.

Apr 2, 2026, 7:18 PM

SRH enters with three foreign players

Thus, Head, Klaasen, and Payne are the three foreign players that SRH has included in their bat-first lineup. If all goes according to plan, either Harshal Patel or Eshan Malinga will be the Impact Player when they bowl. I believe it will be Malinga since he will be in the batting XI ahead of Jaydev Unadkat if you wish to play Harshal.

However, they also have the option of bringing in Liam Livingstone in the event of a collapse. Livingstone and Nitish Kumar Reddy will then need to bowl four overs apiece.

Apr 2, 2026, 7:04 PM

KKR chose to bowl unchanged, and SRH brought in Shivang

The Kolkata Knight Riders choose to bowl against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

In his 200th IPL game, Ajinkya Rahane chose to bowl first after winning the toss for the Kolkata Knight Riders. This season, the team that won the toss has chosen to bowl six times in as many games. So far, all five games have been won by the chasing teams.

Rahane stated that he anticipated the pitch remaining decent for the duration of the game. KKR entered the game with the same lineup.

Sunrisers Hyderabad's desire to bowl first was not surprising. Shivang Kumar, a left-arm wristspinner, was the only alteration they made. Given that both Harshal Patel and Eshan Malinga were listed as Impact Players, it remains to be seen who makes room for him.

Despite scoring more than 200 points in their first games, both clubs are hoping to make an impression. Pitch No. 5, a black-soil track where Finn Allen hit 100 not out off 33 balls against South Africa in the T20 World Cup semi-final, will host tonight's game. Thus, anticipate again another high-scoring match. The dimensions of the square are 61 and 68 meters. The straight line is 74 meters long.

Kolkata Knight Riders: 1 Sunil Narine, 2 Ajinkya Rahane (capt), 3 Cameron Green, 4 Angkrish Raghuvanshi (wk), 5 Rinku Singh, 6 Ramandeep Singh, 7 Anukul Roy, 8 Vaibhav Arora, 9 Varun Chakravarthy, 10 Blessing Muzarabani, 11 Kartik Tyagi

Impact Player options: Mainsh Pandey, Finn Allen, Tejasvi Singh, Saurabh Dubey, Rovman Powell

Sunrisers Hyderabad: 1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Travis Head, 3 Ishan Kishan (capt, wk), 4 Heinrich Klaasen, 5 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 6 Aniket Verma, 7 Salil Arora, 8 Harsh Dubey, 9 Shivang Kumar, 10 David Payne, 11 Jaydev Unadkat

Impact Player options: Harshal Patel, Eshan Malinga, Liam Livingstone, R Smaran, Sakib Hussain

Apr 2, 2026, 6:52 PM

Rahane's 200

Ajinkya Rahane will play in his 200th IPL match. He will be the tournament's eleventh player to accomplish that feat.

Apr 2, 2026, 6:19 PM

What score is considered safe?

Despite scoring more than 200 points, both KKR and SRH lost their most recent match. What do you believe will be a secure score this evening?

Apr 2, 2026, 5:51 PM

The return of Kartik Tyagi

After making a huge impression on his 2020 IPL debut, Kartik Tyagi's career has been severely hampered by injuries. He has "rediscovered the self-belief that I am capable of doing this" and is returning to the game at IPL 2026 with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) after missing several months due to injury.

Apr 2, 2026, 5:31 PM

The dilemma of Varun Chakravarthy

Halfway through the 2026 T20 World Cup, Varun Chakravarthy was the most popular player in the world. He has been on a downward spiral ever since that match against South Africa. He was wicketless in KKR's opening IPL match, demonstrating his sustained dismal form.

Is this only a hiccup, or does Varun face a completely new obstacle? And is he truly experiencing a difficult time, or is he a victim of his own achievements?

He also faces a batter today who is somewhat of an enemy. In nine Twenty20 innings against the unidentified spinner, Heinrich Klaasen has scored 112 runs at 211. Could today's matchup be crucial?

Apr 2, 2026, 4:39 PM

Vaibhav Arora vs. SRH openers

Since IPL 2024, SRH has relied on powerful beginnings from Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma. However, Vaibhav Arora is KKR's ideal tool to neutralise their threat.

He has caused problems for both hitters in the IPL when bowling with the new ball. Despite Head's 24 runs at a strike rate of 218 against the fast bowler, Vaibhav has removed Head twice in three innings.

In five IPL innings, Vaibhav has only taken Abhishek's wicket once, but Abhishek has only scored 17 runs at a strike rate of 77 against him.

Apr 2, 2026, 4:24 PM

Vettori on the captain, Kishan

Daniel Vettori, the head coach of SRH, praised Ishan Kishan's leadership and stated that Pat Cummins' absence "as captain" is not a bad thing for them.So far in his captaincy career, Ishan has had great success. Therefore, we don't regard [no Cummins on the pitch] as a negative [from the point of view of captaincy], even though it can be slightly different', Vettori stated.

"Ishan's performance in the first game demonstrated that he enjoys leadership and being outside, and I believe this will have a significant beneficial impact on his batting and keeping. He will leave his mark on the group as he learns about its dynamics, and I am confident that he will be a very successful leader for us."

Apr 2, 2026, 3:55 PM

In the limelight, bowling

What did the season's opening games for Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders have in common? Both scored more over 200 runs, but their bowling attacks appeared to be lacklustre as they were blown away in the chase.

The bowling assaults of both sides will once again be highlighted as SRH and KKR play at the Eden Gardens, a short pitch that has recently been quite batting-friendly.

With Cameron Green sidelined for the first few games, KKR appears to have one of the weaker fast bowling attacks in the competition. However, they have other issues as well. Against the Mumbai Indians, their normally unbeatable spinners, Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine, rarely appeared to be a threat.

The main issue with SRH's bowling unit is that it is one-dimensional. Harshal Patel, David Payne, and Jaydev Unadkat are comparable bowlers.