IPL 2026, KKR vs SRH highlights: Hyderabad beat Kolkata by 65 runs at Eden Gardens

Eeshan Malinga has picked up two more wickets. First, it was Sunil Narine with a slower ball who skied one in the air, and then it was Ramandeep Singh who hit it straight to point. Kolkata have fallen apart here. Apart from that innings from Raghuvanshi, no batter could spend time in the middle and most importantly could not stitch the partnerships that could take them closer to the target. As we update Kolkata has lost another wicket and it is Unadkat who picked up the wicket of Karthik Tyagi and SRH are one wicket away from registering their first win this season.

It was a good length delivery which Anukul Roy tried to guide towards third man, and Kishan took the edge, a big wicket. It did seem like the choice to send Anukul Roy was to counter the SRH spinners, but it did not work out for them. Well, while wickets are falling, KKR still have Rinku Singh in the middle, and he has already shown in the past what he can do when he is going. While things have worked out well for Sunrisers today, they still have not got over the line. One thing Ishan did well is he still has three overs of Eeshan Malinga left.

We are done with the first strategic time out, and SRH has done well here in keeping the runs under control after the initial onslaught from Finn Allen. KKR's batting just could not get going in this chase. One of the more interesting things, though, there has not been a lot of dew, and the ball is gripping the pacers who are delivering slower ones. The balls are sticking in the surface, and Shivang Kumar has given some air has managed to get some turn. The onus is now on Ishan Kishan on how he uses his bowlers from here on.

Unadkat has got the big wicket of Kolkata skipper. It was a slower ball into the surface, which Rahane tried to chip through the leg-side, but got the top-edge of the bat, and the ball carried to cow-corner, where Eshan Malinga ran in and took the catch. Never looked comfortable, did Rahane through his stay in the middle, just could not get the boundaries away like he could do in Wankhede the other day. Decent start for SRH apart from that first over from Payne bowlers have been able to execute their plans well and keep the KKR batters restricted.

David Payne has taken the new ball for Sunrisers Hyderabad and has taken a pasting against Finn Allen, who smacked 25 runs from that opening over. He is not a quick bowler, Payne, and the deliveries he bowled sat up nicely, and Allen pummlled him irrespective of the length. Harsh Dubey has taken the new ball from the other end. This is one of the things SRH did last year, where for the major part did not have a settled bowling role. Again, in the first game, it was Nitish and Unadkat who took the new ball, and here they have Payne and Dubey taking the new ball. As we update Harsh Dubey picked up Finn Allen.

Well, that is a good innings of cricket. SRH has their say initially, but KKR did pull back things eventually in the second half. After that, Klaasen and Nitish with their partnership ensured what happened against RCB did not happen again. Credit must be given to KKR bowlers, though the way they have bowled, Muzarambani has picked up four wickets and did bowl the slower ones and pace on deliveries quite well, and he picked his moments to execute those deliveries quite nicely. It will be an intresting chase do join us shortly.

This partnership is hurting Kolkata now in the last 10 minutes, or so they have started to take a lot more chances and the runs are coming. As we update, Nitish has fallen here. It was a short bumper from Vaibhav Arora, which he tried to square-cut, and he ended up giving the catch to the fielder over there, Varun Chakarvarthy, who dropped him in the previous over's final ball. He will be happy, not much damage is done. Partnership is finally broken but it has brought SRH into a very good position in this game. Another 20-30 runs from here will give them a competing chance in the second innings. As we update Salil Arora too has fallen.

This has been a good passage for both sides. Kolkata will be happy that they have managed to get control over the scoring rate, and SRH will be happy that they have stopped the wicket fall. A strategic time-out has been taken, and after the break, one of Klaasen or Nitish might go after the bowling. SRH should be hoping to get 220 from here on the wicket is pretty flat and like KKR, SRH themselves have glaring holes in their bowling attack and will be intresting to see if they opt for Eeshan Malinga or Harshal Patel as the impact later in the evening.

Abhishek Sharma's wicket mostly has to do with fielder Varun Chakarvarthy, then the bowler. It was a terrific effort from Varun on the boundary, diving forward. This is the opportunity for Kolkata to put the squeeze on. It was a flat wicket and looked like SRH were on their way to post one of their mammoth totals, but they have lost a couple of quick wickets as we update, SRH has lost another one in Aniket Varma. It was a wide short ball asking to be hit, and Rinku Singh, yet again running towards the cover region, took a lovely catch. SRH has lost four wickets now in quick succession.

Karthik Tyagi has picked up the wicket of Travis Head. It was a quick, short delivery, which the batter tried to hit through the leg-side and got the edge, which Cam Green at mid-on completed the catch. That is a big a wicket given how quickly Head was scoring, but after him entered Ishan Kishan, who too has been in mighty fine form. Abhishek Sharma, meanwhile, who started a bit slowly, is now closing in on his half-century. Sunil Narine, after bowling a good first over, has been slammed for a few boundaries.

Well, there was a bit of swing to start with. Travis Head has gotten into rhythm anything around that off-stump region or outside it. Head will thrash it through the point to cover region all day long, and that is what he did. Muzarambani too took a proper pasting in his opening over. Sunil Narine has come into the attack here in the powerplay with two left-handers in the middle, it seems like a better match-up. With the start Head has had here Abhishek can take a bit of breathing time as he has had his issues against the off-break as seen in the World Cup earlier.

The Kolkata Knight Riders fielders are out there in the middle, the SRH openers Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head have still not entered the ground. It is a buzzing crowd and this venue here supports batting if the SRH batting gets going tonight we might see pretty high-score in the first innings here.

We are going to bowl first. There is always room for improvement but there were a lot of positives from the last game - batting unit wise we batted really well. As I said in the post-match presentation, bowling wise there was a bit of inexperience but they will do really well. We generally don't see this much of grass, last couple of days rain around and that's the reason we are bowling first. Generally there is dew but this wicket should remain good for 40 overs, not sure with the dew as there's a breeze going around, but generally at 7:30-8 the dew comes in. He (Cam Green) is doing all the things which he needs to do, physio and our trainer are looking after him. You will see him bowling very soon. Going with the same team.

Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan(w/c), Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Salil Arora, Harsh Dubey, Shivang Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, David Payne

Kolkata wins toss and opts to bowl first vs Hyderabad in Eden

However, Rahane’s stark middle-overs drop-offs are impossible to ignore and, in time, may even generate a possibility of Powerplay batting specialists in the ever-evolving format. The arrival of the Impact Sub rule in 2023 and the absence of a natural power-based game magnified Rahane’s weaknesses in modulating gears between overs 7 and 16.

Since his first season with Chennai Super Kings in 2023, Rahane has emerged as a Powerplay gun who has slipped under the radar. Adapting to lighter bats and nifty tweaks, like reducing the amount of padding on his arm guard, have enabled Rahane to amplify the effect of his batswing and timing in the Powerplay.

Of the 14 batters who have aggregated at least 500 runs in the Powerplay since 2023, Rahane averages 77.7 for 544 runs. Only Sai Sudharsan (107.67) and Virat Kohli (92.00) overshadow Rahane in this regard, but even they do not match up to the Mumbaikar’s manic 170.53 strike rate. For comparison in that bracket, Rahane is competing with the likes of modern marauders Travis Head (186.43), Abhishek Sharma (174.34) and Phil Salt (173.81). Even the trio have not married consistency quite like Rahane has, reflecting sub-50 averages in the phase.

Even before his bowlers had squandered the plot, Rahane, the batter, was in the thick of things when momentum shifted from the KKR camp into Mumbai’s dugout. Batting first on a belter, the dichotomy of Rahane’s T20 batting playbook promptly showed up mid-way through the innings.

His dramatic batting rejuvenation over the last three years was at the heart of it. However, the flipside of a mean post-Powerplay power game pulls his own glorious headstarts back into middling lines.

"I’m back bowling in the nets. The IPL is starting soon. I won’t make the start of that, but it shouldn’t be too long before I’m back out there playing. I’m back bowling. I’m bowling basically every third day at the moment. We’ve mapped out a plan to get me right by middle of the tournament, so hopefully, if nothing goes wrong, I’ll play the back half plus the finals,” said the 32-year-old.

"Cameron has a lower back injury which is being managed but requires him to abstain from bowling for a short period," a CA spokesperson told PTI. "Cameron is currently rebuilding his bowling loads in India with a view to return in around 10-12 days' time. KKR has been communicated with and is fully aware of this information."

"The team has spent 25% on its budget on a player because they need a skillset that is not available easily. And when the IPL starts, you have a player who is fit and available but Cricket Australia says they are managing his workload. We don't want you to bowl just now. How is it fair yaar? According to me they are taking the tournament for a ride. That must not be allowed. This shouldn't happen because what is the fault of the teams? They feel betrayed and they have every right to feel this way. Here you won't blame the player. The player is just a messenger while someone else is sending the message," he added.

"The best match-up was to bowl Sunil Narine in the powerplay, at least one or two overs to target Rohit Sharma early. That was their best chance to pick wickets and put Mumbai under pressure. Instead, Narine didn't even complete his full quota, which shows the captaincy wasn't up to the mark," Harbhajan told JioStar.

"Credit to Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton. They batted with ease and never let the bowlers settle, but KKR could have handled that phase much better," the former off spinner added.

Eden Gardens has established itself as a batting paradise, particularly for teams chasing under lights. The venue has gained a reputation as one of the most favourable chasing grounds in T20 cricket. This is the same venue where Punjab Kings pulled off the highest successful run-chase in T20 history, gunning down 262 runs against Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2024. Dew is also expected to play a significant role in evening matches, making it increasingly difficult for bowlers to grip the ball as the game progresses. As a result, the captain winning the toss is likely to have no hesitation in electing to bowl first.

Finn Allen, Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi (WK), Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Blessing Muzarabani.