Punjab Kings lost another match in the IPL 2026. They lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad on Wednesday. SRH posted a huge total, winning their IPL contest by 33 runs to move to the top of the points table as well. Heinrich Klaasen continued his stunning consistency with a 43-ball 69, while Ishan Kishan hit 55 off 32 balls as well.
On a placid track, SRH captain Pat Cummins (2/34 in 4 overs) and Eshan Malinga (1/34 in 4 overs) not only provided breakthroughs but also bowled 21 dot balls to restrict the opponents to 202 for 7. Cooper Connolly’s unbeaten 107 off 59 balls went in vain.
“It has been a bit of a virus for us. We have put a lot of catches down this season. The boys have worked exceptionally hard this season. Poor old Shashank – it seems the ball is following him. He missed a couple of games due to a strained hamstring. It has taken him a couple of weeks. He has done all the work to be physically right to play the game. We have pumped a lot of catches into him over the last five to six days. There is no doubt about that. One goes down tonight. Hopefully, it is not too costly,” said Ricky Ponting, PBKS coach. in a chat with the broadcaster JioStar.
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“I am not going to give any excuses. We trained here last night. That is the beauty of coming to these venues. You get a chance, one or two sessions under lights, to get a feel. We have had a couple this year. Chahal had one in Mumbai that went straight into the lights that he lost. It looked like Shashank had that one covered. I am not going to give any excuse. When a catch like that comes, you have got to take it,” he again shared.
After the match, Shreyas Iyer said: “I think it was a bit too much (the target) because we dropped many catches at the start and we could have easily delayed their score by 30 to 40 runs, I guess. Because the wicket kept getting slower and the cutters were holding up a bit. So we weren’t that comprehensive enough on the field, nor in bowling, nor in batting. So I think they played comprehensive cricket and they showed us how to win the match. I feel we got a fairytale start in this tournament and everyone were in a great space and the mindset was top notch. I think it’s important that we stick with the same mindset. It’s easy to get diverted with talking negative about things. But definitely we got to go back, reflect on things that we didn’t do well in the particular last three matches and see to it that we come back strong.”
“He’s phenomenal (Connolly). His mindset is top notch and the character he brings onto the field, it’s something that all players can learn from him. And apart from that, I feel that he’s got a knack of scoring big runs in pressure situations. He has done it in the past and today was the right example. He was fearless and his attitude was fantastic against left-handers (Chahal). I asked him to be attacking, especially when the new batsmen were in because they were on the charge right from ball one. And it was crucial to get wickets at that point of time. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to take catches. I think that was the biggest setback for us in today’s game. But definitely something to reflect on and come back stronger,” he concluded.
