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IPL-19: SRH snatches top spot from PBKS, despite Connolly’s stormy century, Punjab’s third consecutive defeat
Samira Vishwas | May 7, 2026 9:24 AM CST

Hyderabad, 6 May. Punjab Kings (PBKS), who were undefeated in the first seven matches of the current season, not only suffered their third consecutive defeat on Wednesday night but also lost their top position in the Tata Indian Premier League (IPL-19) points table for the first time. In this sequence, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) reached the top for the first time with an impressive victory of 33 runs.

Amid poor fielding, hosts reached 235 runs with the fifties of Klaasen and Kishan.

In fact, Punjab Kings, who decided to field first at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Uppal, had to bear the brunt of dropping the catch as the Hyderabadi team managed to score a strong score of 235 runs for four wickets with the help of aggressive half-centuries from Heinrich Klaasen (69 runs, 43 balls, four sixes, three fours) and Ishan Kishan (55 runs, 32 balls, four sixes, two fours).

Pat Cummins and company spoil the start of Punjab Kings

In front of a strong target, opposition captain Pat Cummins (2-34) along with his fellow bowlers spoiled the start of Punjab Kings, when after openers Priyansh Arya (one run) and Prabhasimran Singh (three runs), the top three batsmen in the form of captain Shreyas Iyer (five runs, five balls, one four) returned within 23 runs till the fourth over.

Despite Cooper’s century effort, the guests could reach 202.

Although after this, Cooper Connolly hit a stormy century (107 not out, 59 balls, eight sixes, seven fours), but his efforts proved futile because apart from him, only Marcus Stoinis (28 runs, 14 balls, two sixes, three fours) and Suryansh Shedge (25 runs, 17 balls, two sixes, one four) could go above 20 and the visiting team was at seven wickets. Stopped after reaching 202 runs.

Sunrisers settle scores with Punjab Kings, now one win away from playoffs

Interestingly, with this win, Sunrisers settled their previous score with Punjab Kings, who had won the first meeting with SRH by six wickets on April 11 at their home ground (New Chandigarh). Now the Hyderabadi team has reached the top of the points table with 14 points from its seventh win in 11 matches and one win in the remaining three matches can secure its playoff ticket.

Punjab Kings’ ninth consecutive defeat in Uppal

Talking about Punjab Kings, they were forced to taste their ninth consecutive defeat in Uppal. Thus, due to the third consecutive defeat after six wins in 10 matches and one point from the rain-interrupted match against KKR, Shreyas & Company has lagged behind in second place with 13 points.

score card

If we look at the innings of Punjab Kings against a difficult target, on a flat wicket, ‘Player of the Match’ Pat Cummins and Ishan Malinga (1-34) played an important role in increasing the pressure on the opposition batsmen. Both of them bowled 21 dot balls in this sequence. If seen, Punjab had a very bad start, when two of its batsmen were in the pavilion on the score of four runs. When Priyansh was returned by Cummins, Prabhasimran Singh caught Cummins on the ball of Nitish Kumar Reddy (1-11). In the fourth over, captain Shreyas Iyer also became the victim of Malinga.

Connolly added 68 runs with Yansen on the seventh over.

After this, Cooper Connolly took the lead, who not only scored his first century in IPL but also took the score beyond 100 with partnerships of 40 and 47 runs with Stoinis and Suryansh respectively. Then made the highest partnership of 68 runs on 40 balls for the seventh wicket with Marco Jansen (19 runs, 16 balls, one six). But in this sequence he could only reduce the margin of defeat of the team. Apart from Cummins, Shivang Kumar also took two wickets after spending 45 runs.

Abhishek and Travis Head scored 54 off 21 balls.

Before this, if Hyderabad was successful in making a big score then Punjab’s poor fielding was to blame for it. In this sequence, Ishaan and Klaasen missed catches thrice while Prabhasimran also missed the stumping opportunity. At present, the opener duo Abhishek Sharma (35 runs, 13 balls, four sixes, two fours) and Travis Head (38 runs, 19 balls, three sixes, three fours) smashed the balls of Arshdeep Singh (1-43) and Marco Jansen (0-63) and scored 54 runs in 21 balls.

Klaasen made explosive half-century partnerships with Ishaan and Nitish

Then came the turn of Klaasen and Ishaan, who took advantage of the gift of life and not only scored half-centuries but also made an explosive partnership of 88 runs in 48 balls. Nitish also showed his sharp hand and contributed 29 unbeaten runs with the help of two sixes and two fours in 13 balls and scored 63 runs in 32 balls with Klaasen getting out on the last ball of the innings. Apart from Arshdeep, Lockie Ferguson, Yuzvendra Chahal and Vijaykumar Vishak also got one success each for Punjab.

thursday match : : Lucknow Super Giants vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (Lucknow, 7.30 PM).


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