Delhi Capitals’ Mukesh Kumar during a practice session in Dharamshala on May 10, 2026.
| Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy

Donovan Ferreira smashed an unbeaten 52 off just 26 balls.
| Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy

Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill in action.
| Photo Credit: VIJAY SONEJI

A tall target, the bowlers trying to take control and a tricky asking rate. It is a situation Shreyas Iyer has revelled in quite a few times, both for India and his IPL teams. It requires gumption to go on the offensive while still relying on conventional methods.

The Punjab Kings skipper yet again demonstrated why he was one of the best white-ball batters going around, striking a crucial half-century (50, 29b, 4×4, 3×6) and guiding his side to a five-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2026 at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday (April 3, 2026).

In pursuit of 210, opener Priyansh Arya set the tone with a belligerent 11-ball 39. The left-hander was in equal parts exquisite and marauding. He started by executing an inch-perfect straight drive off Khaleel Ahmed and then lofted Matt Henry over his head for a six. In between, he punished the pacers whenever they erred on the shorter side by hoiking them over leg-side with disdain.

With 83 needed off 48, Shreyas took control and went after the Super Kings spinners in characteristic fashion. He went after Rahul Chahar, producing a fine inside-out lofted drive over covers and pulling a half-tracker over midwicket. Shreyas raced to his half-century off just 26 balls, smashing CSK’s thin bowling attack around the park. In the end, the visitors cantered home with eight balls to spare and climbed to the top of the table.

Earlier, Ayush Mhatre had the Chepauk faithful up on their feet as his blistering 73 (43b, 6×4, 5×6) ensured CSK posted 209 for five after being asked to bat.

Once Mhatre laid the foundation at the top, Fellow Mumbaikars Shivam Dube (45 n.o., 27b, 5×4, 1×6) and Sarfaraz Khan (32, 12b, 6×4, 1×6) provided the momentum towards the end to help their team get past 200 for the first time at home since 2024.

At 101 for one in 10 overs, the host looked set for a huge total. But Yuzvendra Chahal pulled things back through a misery spell (3-0-21-1). Despite Sarfaraz and Dube’s efforts, it was evident that the Chennai outfit ended up with less than what it would have wanted and slumped to a sixth straight defeat at its den.

Scoreboard

Chennai Super Kings

Sanju Samson c Prabhsimran b Bartlett 7 (7b, 1×4), Ruturaj Gaikwad c Wadhera b Chahal 28 (22b, 2×4), Ayush Mhatre c Chahal b Vyshak 73 (43b, 6×4, 5×6), Shivam Dube (not out) 45 (27b, 5×4, 1×6), Kartik Sharma lbw b Jansen 1 (3b), Sarfaraz Khan c Wadhera b Vyshak 32 (12b, 6×4, 1×6), Prashant Veer (not out) 6 (7b, 1×4); Extras (b-1, nb-1, w-15): 17; Total (for five wkts. in 20 overs): 209.

Fall Of Wickets

1-14 (Samson, 1.6 overs), 2-110 (Ruturaj, 11.1), 3-123 (Mhatre, 12.3), 4-130 (Kartik, 13.4), 5-168 (Sarfaraz, 16.4).

Kings Bowling

Arshdeep 4-0-41-0, Bartlett 4-0-48-1, Jansen 4-0-43-1, Vyshak 4-0-38-2, Chahal 3-0-21-1, Stoinis 1-0-17-0.

Punjab Kings

Priyansh Arya (Impact Player for Chahal) b Henry 39 (11b, 3×4, 4×6), Prabhsimran Singh run out 43 (34b, 6×4, 1×6), Cooper Connolly c Henry b Kamboj 36 (22b, 6×4), Shreyas Iyer c R. Chahar (Impact Player for Kartik) b Kamboj 50 (29b, 4×4, 3×6), Nehal Wadhera c Noor b Henry 10 (9b, 1×6), Shashank Singh (not out) 14 (6b, 2×4), Marcus Stoinis (not out) 9 (3b, 2×4); Extras (lb-1, nb-2, w-6): 9; Total (for five wkts. in 18.4 overs): 210.

Fall Of Wickets

1-61 (Priyansh, 4.2), 2-95 (Prabhsimran, 8.5), 3-127 (Connolly, 11.5), 4-186 (Shreyas, 16.6), 5-186 (Wadhera, 17.1).

Punjab Kings Bowling

Khaleel 3-0-28-0, Henry 4-0-54-2, Kamboj 3.4-0-43-2, Noor 4-0-38-0, R. Chahar 4-0-46-0; Toss: Kings; PoM: Priyansh. PBKS won by five wickets with eight balls to spare.

Published – April 03, 2026 07:54 pm IST

Sunrisers Hyderabad’s players celebrate during the Indian Premier League cricket tournament between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians in Hyderabad.
| Photo Credit: AP

Travis Head played a gem of an innings, Abhishek Sharma was stunning and Heinrich Klaasen flamboyant as the trio fashioned Sunrisers Hyderabad’s impressive 31-run win against Mumbai Indians in a high-scoring IPL league match at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Wednesday night.

Rollicking start

When Mumbai began the daunting chase of 278, it was obvious that the target was too high.

This despite Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan ensuring a rollicking start before both fell, going for big shots.

Later, local boy Tilak Varma showcased his power-hitting with a brilliant knock but that was not good enough as Sunrisers captain Pat Cummins struck the big blows — removing Rohit and Tilak — at crucial moments to short-circuit Mumbai Indians’ hopes.

Tim David too came up with some big hits towards the end but Mumbai needed something extraordinary which didn’t eventually happen.

Earlier, Mumbai’s gamble to put the host in backfired badly as the bowling looked very ordinary, with the stand-out exception, not surprisingly, being Jasprit Bumrah.

Sunrisers posted the highest ever total of 277 for three in IPL history, eclipsing the previous best of 263 for five by Royal Challengers Bengaluru against Pune Warriors in 2013.

Great move

The home team’s move to prefer Head to Marco Jansen proved to be a great one as the Australian opener, dropped on five at mid-off by Tim David off Hardik Pandya’s first ball in the second over of the innings, played some extravagant strokes, especially treating 18-year-old South African left-arm pacer Kwena Maphaka with disdain, pulling him nonchalantly for two huge sixes and straight driving to the fence with aplomb.

Southpaw Abhishek was equal to the occasion against both pace and spin — pulling pacer Gerald Coetzee for a six and later hitting leg-spinner Piyush Chawla for three sixes in his first over.

Century stand

Abhishek was busy hitting boundaries at will and later the South African duo of the classy Aiden Markram and the more belligerent Klaasen joined hands for an unbroken fourth-wicket partnership of 116 of 55 balls to push the visitors completely on the defensive.

MI 246/5 in 20 overs

MI managed 246 for five in their allotted 20 overs, riding on a 34-ball 64 by Tilak Varma and Tim David’s 22-ball 42 not out. For SRH, Pat Cummins (2/35) and Jaydev Unadkat (2/47) snapped two wickets each.

Teams

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Travis Head, Mayank Agarwal, Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Pat Cummins(c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Markande, Jaydev Unadkat.

Mumbai Indians: Ishan Kishan(w), Rohit Sharma, Naman Dhir, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Tim David, Gerald Coetzee, Shams Mulani, Piyush Chawla, Jasprit Bumrah, Kwena Maphaka.

Brief Scores

Sunrisers Hyderabad: 277 for 3 in 20 overs (Heinrich Klassen 80 , Travis Head 62, Abhishek Sharma 63; Piyush Chawla 1/34).

Mumbai Indians: 246 for 5 in 20 overs (Tilak Varma 64, Tim David 42 not out; Pat Cummins 2/35).