IPL 2026: Spin twins Varun and Narine halt SRH juggernaut in Hyderabad as KKR hang on

IPL 2026: Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine spun SunRisers Hyderabad into submission, restricting them to 165 before Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Ajinkya Rahane completed a controlled chase. Three wins from three. KKR's unlikely revival has a heartbeat now.

In Short

• KKR defeated SRH by seven wickets in Hyderabad on Sunday
• Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine picked five wickets between them
• Winless in their first six matches, KKR have stitched a three-game winning run

BRIEF SCORE, SRH vs KKR: Kolkata Knight Riders (169 for 3 in 18.2 overs) beat SunRisers Hyderabad (165-all out in 19 overs) by seven wickets in their IPL 2026 match on Sunday. Scorecard | Highlights

Three wins from three. Six points from the wilderness. KKR's resurrection, once unthinkable, is now looking a bit more plausible, at least for the faithful.

KKR and Varun Chakravarthy sang a redemption song on Sunday, outclassing SunRisers Hyderabad in their reverse fixture of IPL 2026 in Hyderabad. After restricting a power-packed SRH to a below-par 165, the three-time champions strolled past the finish line with something to spare, riding on a fluent fifty from Angkrish Raghuvanshi and a steely 43 from under-fire captain Ajinkya Rahane.

Varun Chakravarthy, who had cut a forlorn figure in the opening weeks of the season, looked every inch the bowler who had once made batting line-ups look foolish - bowling slower than usual, teasing, tormenting and inviting errors from SunRisers' batters. He finished with figures of 3 for 36, whilst his spin twin, Sunil Narine - who completed 200 IPL wickets on Sunday - chipped in with two of his own. Together, the pair spun a web so intricate that SRH never quite found their way out of it.

SunRisers Hyderabad had arrived in this contest as firm favourites, eyeing a sixth consecutive victory and a maiden perch atop the points table. KKR, however, had other ideas, and delivered a rather pointed wake-up call, stitching together a third straight win to announce, loudly, that they are very much still in this tournament.

Having been winless through their first six matches, KKR were staring into the abyss. Six points from three games later, the Knight Riders have hauled themselves back from the brink, their slim playoff hopes flickering – battered, but defiantly alive.

A TERRIFIC COMEBACK WITH THE BALL

In many ways, the afternoon's contest was a neat microcosm of KKR's season: scrappy beginnings, a moment of crisis, and then - almost from nowhere - belief. Opting to bat on a pitch that played considerably more two-paced than it looked, SunRisers came out swinging. Their destroyers-in-chief, Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head, set about the KKR attack with familiar relish, racing to 44 inside 3.3 overs. Kartik Tyagi – quietly one of the most impressive seamers on the circuit this season – provided the first breakthrough, cramping Abhishek for room to send him packing. Yet Head and Ishan Kishan, striding in at No. 3, kept the foot firmly on the throttle, taking SunRisers to a commanding 71 for 1 at the powerplay.

On most afternoons, that platform only leads to one result. But Varun and Narine had not read the script.

Head, already looking dangerous and having raced to fifty off just 22 balls, had his sights set on something truly destructive. Varun, though, had seen enough. A delivery bowled quicker and flatter did the trick – Head gone for 61 in the ninth over, and suddenly, SunRisers began to wobble. Heinrich Klaasen was handed a lifeline when Rinku Singh grassed a catch at deep mid-wicket in the 11th over, only to squander it immediately, holing out in the very same over - Rovman Powell's catch, it must be said, was nothing short of sensational.

There was something different about this KKR – a hunger to convert half-chances that had been conspicuously absent in the first half of their season. It showed in every dive, every sprint, every sharp piece of work in the field.

SunRisers, for their part, did not help themselves. So conditioned to posting totals north of 200, the Orange Army failed to recalibrate after the double blow of losing Head and Klaasen in quick succession.

With Nitish Kumar Reddy absent through illness, there was simply no one in the middle order capable of offering Kishan the support he needed. Smaran Ravichandran, on debut, and Aniket Verma found Varun's guile rather too hot to handle - the KKR spinner wisely giving the ball air, knowing full well that the generous boundaries at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium were very much his ally.

Narine then delivered the knockout blow in a devastating over that accounted for both the highly-rated Salil Arora and Ishan Kishan, extinguishing whatever remained of SRH's hopes of posting a competitive total. SRH lost their last nine wickets for just 60 runs.

FINN ALLEN SPARK AT THE TOP

In reply, Finn Allen, recalled to the side for the first time since his early-season struggles cost him his place, announced his return in the most emphatic fashion, smashing Pat Cummins for 29 off just 13 balls in the powerplay. He did not go on to make it a big one, but his pyrotechnics at the top gave Rahane and Raghuvanshi the cushion they needed to bat at their own tempo, free from the tyranny of the asking rate.

The pair duly obliged, stitching an 84-run partnership off 66 deliveries – measured, assured, and never once needing to shift into a gear beyond their comfort. The SunRisers' bowling attack, shorn of genuine penetration in the middle overs, lacked the craft to prise out batters who were not under the cosh. When Rahane and Raghuvanshi fell in quick succession, Rinku Singh – a man in the form of his life off the back of back-to-back fifties – ensured there would be no last-gasp drama, seeing KKR home with minimum fuss.

Buoyed by belief and scenting possibility, KKR travel to Delhi for a crunch encounter on Friday. SunRisers, meanwhile, must dust themselves off swiftly – table-toppers Punjab Kings arrive in Hyderabad on Wednesday, and momentum, as they will know, is a fickle companion.

- Ends