Sunrisers Hyderabad batsman Abhishek Sharma etched his name in the franchise’s record books by becoming the second player after David Warner to hit 100 sixes for SRH in the Indian Premier League.
The left-hand bowler reached the milestone against Kolkata Knight Riders at SRH when he smashed 48 off 21 balls with a strike rate of over 228 including 4 boundaries and 4 sixes. Abhishek has now hit 101 sixes for the team, second only to Warner’s 143. In 76 games for SRH, he scored 1,808 runs at an average of 26.58. The strike rate is 162.88, including one century and nine fifties.
SRH’s big total, bowlers take overwhelming victory
Sunrisers Hyderabad registered its first win of IPL 2026 as they defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 65 runs at the Eden Gardens.
After posting a respectable 226/8, their highest total of the season so far, SRH’s bowlers backed up the result with a clinical effort. Jaydev Unadkat led the way with impressive figures of 3/21 while Eshan Malinga, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harsh Dubey kept the pressure on as KKR were bowled out for 161 in just 16 overs.
The win was significant as it marked the first successful title defense in this year’s tournament.
KKR start strong but collapse under pressure
Chasing 227, KKR got off to a good start with Finn Allen blasting 28 runs off just 7 balls, including 25 runs in the opening over. However, SRH struck back quickly, with Dubey removing Allen with a sharp catch and delivery.
Ajinkya Rahane and Angkrish Raghuvanshi then put on a 37-run stand to stabilize the innings, with Raghuvanshi continuing his good form. But SRH regained control as Unadkat dismissed Rahane with a slower ball and confusion led to Cameron Green’s dismissal at the end of the powerplay, with KKR at 74/3.
Raghuvansh scored his second consecutive 50-ball haul, reaching the milestone with 27 balls, but ran out with 52 balls. Nitish Kumar Reddy then removed Anukul Roy and Rinku Singh with two knocks in quick succession to further weaken KKR’s chase.
Sunil Narine fought back briefly but Malinga dismissed him and Ramandeep Singh in consecutive overs. Unadkat returned and dismissed Kartik Tyagi and Varun Chakaravarthy to end the innings, handing SRH a comprehensive win.
