KKR vs SRH, IPL 2026: Sunrisers Hyderabad’s guns finally roared at Eden Gardens as they hunted down Kolkata Knight Riders by 65 runs on Friday night to register their first win of IPL 2026. When teams took the field on this hazy evening, it seemed that the bat would rule the ball. But as it turned out, Heinrich Klaasen’s fluent finish and old-sguard quality bowling of Jaydev Unadkat did the talking for SRH against Kolkata crowd.
SRH became the first team in IPL 2026 to defend a total and ended Kolkata’s purple patch of successful run-chases after picking up a well-deserved two points in the points table.
SRH Openers Too Hot To Handle – The “Travishek” firestorm
Ajinkya Rahane decided to take the field first on winning the toss as KKR looked to take advantage of any moisture on the surface early on. But it seemed SRH’s openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma had something else in mind as the two tore apart the KKR bowling from over-ball one.
Abhishek Sharma, who was busy looting mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy for a whopping 31 runs off his two allocated overs, was SRH’s star performer during the Powerplay. The duo put the Kolkata bowlers to absolute sword, racing to 84/1 by the end of the Powerplay – the highest Powerplay score of IPL 2026 so far.
‣ Abhishek Sharma: 48*(21 balls, 4×4, 4×6)
‣ Travis Head: 46*(21 balls)
KKR did show signs of a fightback after that with Blessing Muzarabani emerging as the Knight Riders hero. The Zimbabwean strike bowler smashed back-to-back sixes to dismiss both openers and then went on to bowl one of the best spells of his IPL career, picking up the third wicket of Ishan Kishan as well to leave SRH stumbling at 118/4.
But Klaasen and Nitish Kumar Reddy had other ideas. Heinrich walked in fresh off the bench and looked confident from ball one against the KKR spin. The South African found his partner soon in young Nitish Kumar Reddy and the pair put together a 82-run fifth wicket partnership.
Klaasen took the game away from KKR as the veteran kept his team’s innings alive while crushing the middle overs. He went on to make a fluent half-century (first of IPL 2026) – 52*(35 balls, 4×4, 1×6) – before bringing up the SRH target off Nitish’s bowling. Reddy supported well and ended with 39*(24 balls) to finish the job for SRH.
Throw in a late order surge courtesy Sandeep Sharma and that took the Sunrisers to a handsome 226/8 in their allotted 20 overs, handing KKR a near-impossible target of almost 11.4 rpo.
KKR begin their innings looking every bit their MOI juggernaut-self from their season opener. Finn Allen came out “biting” and in beast mode straightaway, smashing David Payne for 25 runs off the first over itself. The southpaw went berserk and smashed a 7-ball 28*(SR 400.00) cameo before young Harsh Dubey kept his cool and produced an athletic diving catch to his right to send Allen packing.
Angkrish Raghuvanshi continued his purple patch as he smashed his second consecutive fifty in IPL 2026. The stylish Hyderabad-graduate got to 52*(27 balls) but couldn’t get support from the other end for long enough.
Enter The Beast – Jaydev Unadkat Strikes
KKR management did the smart thing by introducing their experienced gun, Jaydev Unadkat into the attack. Gifted with outstanding wrists, Jaydev used his variations to great effect against an inexperienced KKR batting line-up. Dropping in subtle pace off the surface and exploiting the conditions with some juicy cutters, Unadkat bamboozled the KKR batsmen time and again.
1. The Early Wicket: Jaydev Unadkat struck first, removing KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane who edged a slower one to mid-wicket.
2. The Decimation: He then returned to the attack and continued to strangle the run-flow, creating errors from the visiting lower-middle order.
3. The Wrap-up Job: Unadkat eventually cleaned up the KKR tail to finish with immaculate figures of 3/21 from his three overs.
Backing him up with impressive spells were Eshan Malinga (2/14) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (2/17), who completed the KKR massacre. Coming in at a steady 110/3, KKR imploded and eventually folded up for a mere 161 in only 16 overs.
Match Summary and Brief Scores
SRH’s all-round dominance was the story of the night. While their top-order provided the fireworks, their defensive bowling precision ensured that KKR never truly threatened the target after the first ten overs.
| Team | Score | Top Performers |
| Sunrisers Hyderabad | 226/8 (20.0) | H. Klaasen 52 (35), A. Sharma 48 (21); B. Muzarabani 4/41 |
| Kolkata Knight Riders | 161/10 (16.0) | A. Raghuvanshi 52 (27), F. Allen 28 (7); J. Unadkat 3/21, E. Malinga 2/14 |
