Heinrich Klaasen top-scored for the Sunrisers Hyderabad and reclaimed the Orange Cap as the highest run-scorer as Sunrisers Hyderabad hammered the Punjab Kings by 33 runs in their Tata IPL match at the Ranjiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
The Sunrisers’ whopping 235 for four was way beyond even Punjab’s fabled top order and they slumped to 202 for seven in reply despite a brilliant, unbeaten century from Australian Cooper Connolly, who finished with 107 from 59 balls with seven fours and eight sixes.
Punjab’s decision to bowl first backfired immediately with Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head giving the home side their customary flying start as they reached 79 for one in the Power Play with Abhishek flaying an eye-watering 35 from just 13 balls with two fours and four sixes.
More than 600 runs as a pair when no one else has gone past 500 😲
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 6, 2026
Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head miles ahead of everyone else 👏#TATAIPL | #KhelBindaas | #SRHvPBKS | @SunRisers pic.twitter.com/MAw6RNVxem
Head was only marginally more measured with 38 from 19 deliveries with a trio of fours and sixes while Ishan Kishan added a sublime 55 from 32 (2x4, 4x6) on yet another ‘belter’ of a pitch at the highest scoring venue in the competition.
Klaasen was at his sublime best against the spinners with sixes over extra cover and powerful straight drives earning him 69 from 43 balls with three fours and four sixes as the Sunrisers top order collectively capitalised on three dropped boundary catches off veteran wrist spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, whose 4-0-32-1 should have been so much better.
Finishing the innings with finesse 🤌
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 6, 2026
🎥 Some delightful shots in the final over from Heinrich Klaasen to finish 69 (43) 👏👏
Updates ▶️ https://t.co/8L0gAuxW78#TATAIPL | #KhelBindaas | #SRHvPBKS | @SunRisers pic.twitter.com/jbmQ02eo0h
Marco Jansen endured a rare ‘bad day at the office’ with 61 runs coming from his four overs while Kiwi fast bowler Lockie Ferguson stemmed the flow of runs in the Power Play and finished with a respectable 4-0-41-1.
Punjab crashed to 63 for four in the seventh over and there were only defiant but inconsequential counter-punches to be thrown. Connolly made a measured 50 before accelerating to his milestone and countryman Marcus Stoinis belted 28 from 14 balls, but it was another Australian, Sunrisers captain Pat Cummins, who made the greatest impact in the second innings with 4-0-34-2.
The result sees Punjab lose top place on the log for the first time since the first week, with Sunrisers moving to the summit on 14 points from 11 games and the Kings relegated to second place on 13 from 10 matches. Both teams, however, seem locked in for the playoffs.
SUNRISERS HYDERABAD: Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan(w), Heinrich Klaasen, Salil Arora, Smaran Ravichandran, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Pat Cummins(c), Shivang Kumar, Eshan Malinga, Sakib Hussain
Impact subs: Aniket Verma, Praful Hinge, Liam Livingstone, Harsh Dubey, Harshal Patel
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS: Punjab Kings: Prabhsimran Singh(w), Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer(c), Shashank Singh, Suryansh Shedge, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Lockie Ferguson, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal
Impact subs: Priyansh Arya, Harpreet Brar, Xavier Bartlett, Vishnu Vinod, Musheer Khan