Angkrish Raghuvanshi’s 59 and Varun Chakaravarthy’s 3/36 guide KKR to a comfortable seven-wicket win over SRH in IPL 2026.
Kolkata Knight Riders's Angkrish Raghuvanshi celebrates after scoring a half-century during the Indian Premier League 2026 match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Sunday, May 03, 2026. (Photo: IANS)
Kolkata Knight Riders rode on a composed half-century from Angkrish Raghuvanshi and a clinical bowling display led by Varun Chakaravarthy to secure a comfortable seven-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in Match 45 of the Indian Premier League 2026 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Sunday.
Chasing 166, KKR were briefly watchful but quickly shifted gears as Finn Allen injected early momentum with a brisk 29 off 13 balls. After his dismissal, Raghuvanshi took control of the chase with a mature 59 off 47 deliveries, combining fluency with composure.
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Alongside skipper Ajinkya Rahane, who made a steady 43, the duo stitched together a match-defining 84-run stand that effectively shut SRH out of the contest.
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Even though both set batters fell late, Rinku Singh and Cameron Green ensured there were no late hiccups, guiding KKR home in 18.2 overs with 10 balls to spare.
Earlier, SRH’s innings followed a familiar script, explosive start, followed by a collapse. Travis Head set the tone with a blistering 61 off just 28 balls, powering the hosts to 71/1 in the powerplay. Abhishek Sharma provided early support, while Ishan Kishan added a fighting 42 in the middle overs.
However, once Head departed, KKR tightened the screws. Chakaravarthy turned the game with crucial strikes, removing key middle-order batters and finishing with 3/36.
Sunil Narine chipped in with two wickets and also reached the milestone of 200 IPL scalps, while Kartik Tyagi supported well as SRH were bundled out for 165 in 19 overs after losing momentum dramatically.
The win continues KKR’s resurgence after a shaky phase, while SRH’s five-match winning streak came to a halt despite another strong start with the bat.
Captains take at toss
After winning the toss, SRH captain Pat Cummins said:
“We’ll bat first. Pitch looks good, and it’s very hot. We’ll bat and post a total. I’m not good at reading the pitches; it looks nice and must be high scoring. The younger players have been fantastic; the older ones have held their own, I think we’ve always gone past 220, barring once. We know we won’t win every single game, but this style is working well for us. Nitish misses out due to an illness, so Smaran comes in on his debut. Harshal Patel is in place of Harsh Dubey.”
After losing the toss, KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane said:
“We wanted to bat first as well. The break has really helped us; we’ve thought about the things we did well and the areas where we can improve. It’s all about winning those small moments. We’ve got two changes: Finn Allen replaces Tim Seifert, and Manish Pandey plays his first game, replacing Ramandeep Singh.”
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen, Salil Arora(wk), Aniket Verma, Smaran Ravichandran, Pat Cummins(c), Shivang Kumar, Harshal Patel, Eshan Malinga
Impact Substitutes: Harsh Dubey, Praful Hinge, Liam Livingston, Sakib Hussain, Zeeshan Ansari
Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane(c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi(wk), Cameron Green, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Rinku Singh, Anukul Roy, Sunil Narine, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi, Varun Chakaravarthy
Impact Substitutes: Fill Allen, Ramandeep Singh, Tejasvi Dahiya, Navdeep Saini,Tim Seifert
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