Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Kolkata Knight Riders, 45th Match, Indian Premier League 2026 - CommentarySRH vs KKR, 45th Match, Indian Premier League 2026 - Commentary

Three wins on the bounce and this is by far KKR's best performance this season. They've also ended SRH's five-match winning streak in the process. That's it from this contest. There's one more game today, a battle between two teams in the top half of the points table - Gujarat Titans vs Punjab Kings. See you there.

Varun Chakaravarthy | Player of the Match: It's fine. It's just the impact pain (talking about his injury). Still not able to put the foot fully down. But in another 3 days, I'll be fine. He hit it very fast, and I had to stop it. Otherwise it would've been a four. I've been saying this every year. Initially when IPL starts, the first four matches will be flat wickets. It's very tough for spinners to come into the game. Happened for every spinner. Everyone found it tough. As the tournament goes on, spinners come into the game. He was extending his hands very well (his plan for Head), I didn't want him to do that. That's the simple plan. The guys are coming together, the batting group is coming together. Nice to see the batting group finish it this way. I can see lots of positive energy in the team. We can make a serious dent in the IPL if we keep going.

Ajinkya Rahane | KKR captain: Very good game. The way we came back with the ball. Looked like they will get 190-200. It was a good wicket to bat on. 190-200 would've been challenging to chase. But credit to our bowling unit, especially the spinners. They kept taking wickets. Those small moments are really important, really happy with the win. The bowling unit has been doing really well last 5-6 games. Credit to our bowling coaches - Bravo and Southee. During practice sessions, lot of talking, lot of planning, different oppositions, different grounds. It's all about planning and executing. Here and there you will go for runs, but as long as you're clear in your head, that's important. That win was important going into the break. Had 2-3 practice sessions. It's all about being mentally fresh. Need to identify what areas you can improve. Support staff has been doing really well. Even though we lost the first 5 matches, atmosphere was really calm. The group which we have at the moment, really amazing. Really happy for him (Varun C). He was struggling before the tournament and even going into the tournament - first couple of games. The way he came back was amazing. He was always confident. Works really hard, great attitude. You want players like him to do something for the team in tough situations. He's been bowling the tough overs. I'm sure he will continue his performance.

Most POTM awards by specialist wrist spinners in IPL
13 Rashid Khan
12 Amit Mishra
8 Varun Chakaravarthy *
7 Yuzvendra Chahal/ Kuldeep Yadav
4 Shane Warne

Catch success % in IPL 2026
88.6 KKR
87.2 RR
85.7 RCB
83.7 LSG
80.5 GT
75.4 CSK
75.0 MI
74.2 SRH
72.7 PBKS
65.2 DC

Most wins for KKR against an opponent
21 vs SRH (in 32 games)
21 vs PBKS (36)
20 vs RCB (35)
19 vs DC (34)

21 wins by KKR over SRH is the joint-second most for a team against an opposition, only behind MI’s 25 against KKR.

SRH have never done the league double over KKR across 14 seasons.

Angkrish Raghuvanshi: Just happy that we won. When I was walking back I saw my coach shaking his head about the way I got out. Still things to work on. Just got very easy after the start Finn and Ajinkya gave us. Was almost run a ball when I went in. When I bat with Ajinkya bhaiya, the communication is really good. He just tells me to watch the ball and react. Calms me down. Not worry about the previous game too much (his thought process). Just go in and enjoy the game. That's been working for me. When I was a kid I used to dream of this. Just me living my dream. So many stars to learn from. Wouldn't change it for anything. Was trying to hit it straight back over his head (talking about his dismissal). That's why I was disappointed because I've been in there for so long and I saw that the ball was turning. Maybe if I went inside-out, I would connect. I was batting well in the nets. The way I got out in the last game, that didn't help. I was batting well, would've got a big one there also.

Pat Cummins | SRH Captain: Well, not our best day. We got off to a pretty good start. And then after that, we weren't at our sharpest. Probably from where we were, we should have found a way to get higher, you know, up around 200 or past 180. But not to be.  (On adjusting to the conditions) I think you just got to adapt. I actually thought, 180 was where it started. I thought the way we chose our match-ups really well. And probably the second half didn't quite choose the moments, myself included. (On the par score) I think 180, something like that. It did dry up a little bit and slow up. But again, from where we were, I think we should have got 180 plus. (On winning five on the bounce) Much of the same, the margins are quite small here. We still showed a lot of good things. With the bowling unit, we dragged it right to the end. My over costing 27 probably made a difference. So there's only little moments that can make a big difference.

19:03 IST, 13:33 GMT: Clinical performance from KKR. The start wasn't ideal as they conceded 105 runs in the first nine overs after losing the toss. But they came back strongly, removing the last nine SRH wickets for just 60 runs. The deck offered some assistance for the spinners and KKR's spin twins - Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine - were impressive in the middle overs, finishing with combined figures of 5/66. In reply, KKR got off the blocks quickly. Finn Allen fell to Cummins in the fourth over, but not before making an impact with a quickfire 29. Ajinkya Rahane was joined by Angkrish Raghuvanshi and the duo forged an 84-run stand for the second wicket with the latter batting more fluently. After three low scores, Angkrish returned to form with a mature fifty. Both the set batters were dismissed within a span of 11 deliveries and that allowed KKR's in-form batter - Rinku - to finish the proceedings with an unbeaten 11-ball 22.