Connolly ton in vain as batting muscle fires SRH to top of the table
In a high-scoring game, both teams missed chances in the field but PBKS' proved costlier
In a high-scoring game, both teams missed chances in the field but PBKS' proved costlier
Scorer: M Venkat Raghav | Commentator: @himanshu_a30
With today's win, SRH displace PBKS at the top of the points table. But a lot of movement would've taken place by the time they're next in action - on May 12. For now, though, they've taken a step towards playoffs while leaving PBKS wondering what would've been. But thanks for joining us tonight as we wrap this up. Goodnight and goodbye!
Pat Cummins is the Player of the Match: "Punjab are a really good side. I thought the batters to get off to what we did was sensational. No matter what the score is, bowling second against that side was clinical. We're pretty good at playing it at our pace. It's just trying to max out. We're no good during the day [at home]! It gripped a little bit, which suits our bowlers. We've seen it before; we can adjust. I fell really good. Came into this fresh. Not much has worked for any team in the powerplay, really. We've got lots of options. Good result [for Connolly]. Good to see the Aussies do well. Hope so [it's our season]."
Time for the presentations
Chavan: "So PBKS dethroned after remaining there for almost 49 matches"
Daniel Vettori: "When you lose the toss, you go against what you want. Got lucky with the catches. You saw how difficult Sakib was in the end. I think there's enough in the wicket. We understand what we need to do. We've got some tricky surfaces coming up in Ahmedabad and Chennai. Cummins and Ishan have been brilliant this season. The main thing he brings is calmness."
Shreyas Iyer: "It was a bit too much because we dropped catches at the start. The wicket kept getting slower. They played comprehensive cricket, and showed us how to win the match. I feel we got a fairytale start in the tournament, and everyone was in a great space... If we are going to continue with the same form, that's not going to help us. Connolly is phenomenal. His mindset is top notch. He has got a knack of scoring big runs in pressure situations. The way Chahal bowled, he was fearless. I asked him to be attacking - especially when new batters were in. Unfortunately, we weren't able to take catches."
11.08pm So PBKS save a bit of face in the end. But what do they do about the dropped catches? They put plenty of them down to help propel SRH to 235, and eventually fell 33 runs short despite Connolly's maiden T20 century. PBKS have now lost three in a row, and nine in a row in Hyderabad. The next highest after Connolly's 107* was 28. For SRH, it was the usual show from Abhishek, Head and Klaasen that set it up.
Connolly on 95.
Ishan Kishan, Cooper Connolly and Eshan Malinga also moved up the ladder after SRH beat PBKS by 33 runs in IPL 2026 on Wednesday night
"The team functions better when they have an allrounder who's being able to contribute both with bat and ball," James Franklin, SRH's assistant coach, says about Nitish Kumar Reddy
Sairaj Bahutule credits Cooper Connolly, who scored an unbeaten 107 in 59 balls, for not giving up even when the chase against SRH was dead in the water
Nitish Kumar Reddy is back for SRH, replacing Aniket Verma
The ease and frequency with which teams are putting up and chasing down 200 or more has been astounding