Iyer guides Punjab to facile win victory over Hyderabad

Captain Shreyas Iyer remained unbeaten at 69 while Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh scored quick half-centuries as Punjab Kings (PBKS) chased down the target of 220 runs in just 18.5 overs against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the 17th match of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 at the PCA New International Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh on Saturday.

With this win, PBKS remain unbeaten this season. They now have seven points from four matches, with one game against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) abandoned due to rain.

Chasing a big total, the Punjab Kings got off to a flying start. Openers Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh continued their good form and attacked the SRH bowlers right from the start.

Priyansh took the lead early, playing aggressive shots all around the ground.

He scored 21 runs in the final over of the Power-play off Harshal Patel and reached his fifty in just 16 balls with back-to-back boundaries. This became the second-fastest fifty for Punjab Kings, just behind KL Rahul’s 14-ball half-century in 2018. Prabhsimran also played his part well, and PBKS reached 93/0 at the end of the Power-play.

SRH finally got a breakthrough in the seventh over when Shivang Kumar dismissed Priyansh Arya, who scored 57 off just 20 balls with five fours and five sixes.

Shivang struck again in his next over, removing Prabhsimran Singh after he completed his fifty in 24 balls. He scored 51 runs, hitting four fours and four sixes. Despite these wickets, PBKS are in a strong position at 124/2 after 10 overs.

Shivang continued his good spell and picked up another wicket, dismissing Cooper Connolly with a wide delivery outside off stump.

Captain Shreyas Iyer steadied the innings along with impact substitute Nehal Wadhera.

The pair rotates the strike well and punishes loose deliveries to keep the pressure on SRH. Iyer then shifted gears after the 13th over and reached his fifty in 24 balls with a six off Eshan Malinga in the 16th over. He stayed unbeaten on 69, while Shashank Singh supported him with an unbeaten 16, as PBKS chased down the target with seven balls to spare and six wickets in hand.

For SRH, Shivang Kumar was the standout bowler, finishing with figures of 3/33 in four overs. Harsh Dubey chips in with one wicket.

Earlier in the match, Sunrisers Hyderabad made a strong start after being put in to bat, with openers Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head attacking from the very beginning.

Abhishek led the charge, scoring 20 runs in one over off Arshdeep Singh and reaching his fifty in just 18 balls with two consecutive sixes. Head also played aggressively, hitting three boundaries in an over, as SRH raced to 105/0 at the end of the powerplay.

Punjab Kings made a comeback in the ninth over when Shashank Singh dismissed Head for 38, ending the 120-run opening partnership. Just two balls later, Abhishek was also dismissed for a brilliant 78 off 28 balls, which included five fours and eight sixes.

After the quick wickets, Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen stabilised the innings by rotating the strike. However, Arshdeep Singh broke their partnership by dismissing Kishan for 27. SRH lost further momentum as Aniket Verma was run out due to a mix-up, and Salil Arora managed only 9 runs.

Klaasen struggled to accelerate and scored 39 off 33 balls, as SRH added just 43 runs in the last five overs. Shashank Singh was the standout bowler with two wickets, while Arshdeep also claimed two, and Xavier Bartlett picked up one.

Meanwhile, SRH captain Kishan admitted his side fell short in execution despite posting a competitive total.

“We could have ended with a total of 240 at least. But you know, things happen. We were not so good with execution. Like I said earlier, in T20 cricket, the most important thing is the execution of your good balls. So we were not that great today,” Kishan said in the post-match presentation.

Kishan felt his side had enough runs but failed to adapt to the opposition batters’ approach.

“I thought 219 was a good total anyway, just because we started in a very good manner, we thought we could end up getting 240, but I think 219 was a very good total, especially having six or seven bowlers on our side who can bowl.”

“We need to just understand the batters, how they’re going to bat, what they’re going to do. But I think we were lacking at that point in time. I think that showed in their batting there. It was pretty easy for them to score runs in the end.”

Agencies