Sunrisers Hyderabad [SRH] became the first team in IPL 2026 to successfully defend a total, and for that, they had to post 226 for 8, the highest score of the season so far. Even that did not look safe at one point, but in the end, Kolkata Knight Riders [KKR]  fell short by 65 runs.

Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma set the platform for SRH by adding 82 in 5.4 overs. Head made 46 off 21 balls, and Abhishek 48 off 21. KKR did make a comeback in the middle overs, but Heinrich Klassen’s  52 off 35 deliveries ensured they picked up 51 in the last four overs.

Finn Allen, batting on the same strip where he had scored a blazing hundred against South Africa in the T20 World Cup semi-final, started the chase by smashing 24 runs off David Payne. But Harsh Dubey had him caught and bowled from the other end. Angkrish Raghuvanshi’s 27-ball fifty steered KKR to 110 for 3 in ten overs, but his run-out soon after proved to be the turning point. Rinku Singh’s brief resistance was futile, and KKR were eventually all out for 161 in 16 overs.

Ajinkya Rahane, playing his 200th IPL match, opted to bowl after winning the toss. Vaibhav Arora started with three dots, beating Head’s outside edge on all three occasions. But that was the proverbial calm before the storm. Head pulled the last ball of the over for four before picking two more fours off Blessing Muzarabani in the next over.

Muzarabani was trying the short-ball ploy that had worked for Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Jacob Duffy against the same opposition in the tournament opener, but it backfired here. Abhishek rubbed it in by pulling yet another short ball from Muzarabani for a six.

After Head smashed two sixes and two fours in Vaibhav’s next over, Rahane turned to spin. Sunil Narine conceded only three runs from the fourth over, and even induced a miscue from Head, but it landed safely. However, Abhishek took Varun Chakravarthy apart from the other end, hitting two sixes and three fours in a 25-run over.

Kartik Tyagi ended the stand by dismissing Head, but not before the batter had smashed him for a four and a six. SRH finished the powerplay on 84 for 1.

Muzarabani pulled things back for KKR by dismissing Ishan Kishan and Abhishek in the space of three balls. Kishan was caught at deep cover, and Abhishek at deep square leg, where Varun dived forward to complete a low catch. The third umpire had multiple looks at it before deciding it in KKR’s favour.

In the next over, Anukul Roy had Aniket Verma caught at long-off to make it 118 for 4. After that, Klaasen and Nitish Kumar Reddy decided to go into consolidation mode. As a result, only 37 runs came from overs 10 to 14.

Klaasen and Reddy picked up a four each off Narine in the 15th over, but Tyagi gave away only seven runs in the next. When Vaibhav conceded only three off the first five balls of the 17th over, it started looking like the final flourish might never come. But his final ball was in the slot for Reddy, who launched it over the bowler’s head for a six.

Klaasen then reverse-lapped Tyagi over deep third for a six, before Reddy hit him for back-to-back fours. Vaibhav hurt SRH by dismissing Reddy and Salil Arora off successive deliveries, but Klaasen, with the help of Dubey and Shivang Kumar, took them past 220.

Allen gave KKR the start they needed, with 25 runs coming off the first over. While Rahane was struggling and eventually fell for 8 off ten balls, Raghuvanshi didn’t let the scoring rate drop. He hit two sixes off Abhishek in the third over, and smashed back-to-back fours off Jaydev Unadkat in the fifth. After five overs, KKR were 67 for 2.

Cameron Green, though, was run out in the following over. As Raghuvanshi drove one back towards Eshan Malinga, the two batters set off, only to find the bowler had stopped the ball with his boot. Both Raghuvanshi and Green froze for a moment before deciding to keep running. Malinga picked the ball up and broke the stumps. Initially, it looked like Raghuvanshi, who was running towards the non-striker’s end, was run out. But the TV umpire found out the batters hadn’t crossed when the wicket was broken, and it was Green who was out.

Raghuvanshi and Rinku, though, kept the chase on track, and took KKR to 100 in nine overs, with SRH’s poor ground fielding also contributing towards it.

Soon after that, Reddy got rid of Roy and Rinku in back-to-back overs. Narine and Ramandeep Singh took KKR to 155 for 6 in the 15th over, before falling to Malinga’s slower balls. Unadkat then wrapped up the win with two wickets in two balls.

Brief scores:
Sunrisers Hyderabad 226 for 8 in 20 overs (Heinrich Klaasen 52, Abhishek Sharma 48, Travis Head 46, Ishan Kishan 14, Nitish Kumar Reddy 39; Vaibhav Arora 2-47,  Blessing Muzarabani 4-41, Kartik Tyagi 1-48, Anukul Roy 1-16) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 161 in 16 overs (Finn Allen 28, Angkrish Raghuvanshi 52, Rinku Singh 35, Ramandeep Singh 10, Sunil Narine 12; Harsh Dubey 1-17, Jaydev Unadkat 3-21, Eshan Malinga 2-14, Nitish Kumar Reddy 2-17) by 65 runs

Eshan Malinga and Shivang Kumar celebrate after running out Angkrish Raghuvanshi [Cricinfo]

[Cricinfo]

Sri Lanka fast bowler Nuwan Thushara has filed a lawsuit in the Colombo District Court against Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) after he was denied a no objection certificate (NOC)   to play in the IPL as a result of failing new and stricter fitness tests.

Thushara’s legal argument centres around his contract with SLC ending on March 31, 2026 – after which he intended to step away from international cricket – making the enforcement of an NOC for SLC unreasonable and a barrier to his livelihood. While Thushara’s argument notes the loss of income from missing the IPL – he’s part of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) squad – the timing of the legal action has almost certainly ruled him out of the tournament.

A superb knock of 146 runs by Rehan Peiris held the Royal College top order together as they posted 319 in their first innings on day one of the Under 19 Division I Tier ‘A’ quarter-final against Mahanama College at the D.H.H. Ground, Madampella on Thursday.

‎Royal looked set for a strong start before three quick wickets disrupted their progress and left the innings in a difficult position. With the early damage threatening to derail the innings, Rehan stepped up with a determined batting effort to guide the recovery.

‎Rehan first stitched together a useful partnership with Ramiru Perera to stabilize the innings before combining with Thevindu Wewalwala for a crucial fifth wicket stand worth 117 runs. The partnership proved vital in helping Royal regain control and build a competitive total.

‎Wewalwala provided excellent support with a solid 57, while Hirun Matheesha contributed 28 runs and Ramiru Perera added 27 to strengthen the innings around Rehan’s impressive knock.

‎For Mahanama, Venura Kaveethra was the pick of the bowlers with a five wicket haul, finishing with figures of 5 for 86, while Chamika Heenatigala chipped in with two wickets.

‎At stumps on the opening day, Mahanama were four for no loss.

‎‎Scores

‎Royal – 319 all out in 87.2 overs

‎(Rehan Peiris 146, Thevindu Wewalwala 57, Hirun Matheesha 28, Ramiru Perera 27; Venura Kaveethra 5/86, Chamika Heenatigala 2/80)

‎Mahanama – 4 for no loss at stumps.

‎‎Wesley book semi-final spot

‎‎Wesley booked a semi-final berth in the Under 19 Division I Tier B tournament as they overcame formidable Devapathiraja Rathgama with a convincing 107 runs victory at Katuneriya on Thursday.

‎‎Scores:

‎Wesley

197 all out in 52.1 overs (Shamma Fernando 23, Rasheed Nahyan 34, Rashmika Amararathna 30, Lithum Senuja 24, Senura Lakshan 27; Sandaru Lakshan 3/71, Puljith Wathsuka 4/31, Harsha Madusanka 2/13) and 219 all out in 64.4 overs (Rashmika Amararathna 43, Senura Lakshan 37, Lavindu Hettiarachchi 41, Dinuja Samararathna 31; Sandaru Malshan 6/88, Diyath Sanjitha 4/46)

‎Devapathiraja

142 all out in 57.1 overs (Diyath Sanjitha 20, Arosha Sithumina 33, Sandaru Malshan 30; Rashmika Amararathna 4/23, Aadhyan Zian 4/34) and 167 all out in 60.3 overs (Sandaru Malshan 22, Yasiru Lakshan 71, Gimhan Rasanjana 31; Aadhyan Zian 2/25, Dinuja Samararathna 4/52)

(RF)