IPL 2026, SRH vs PBKS Preview: Sunrisers Hyderabad look to regain lost ground

HYDERABAD: Early pace-setters Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad have hit a road bump. Their winning run was halted on Sunday by teams in the lower half of the table and that jolt could just be the wakeup call they needed to regroup and regain lost ground.

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It’s a long tournament and with everything to gain, teams are making their moves before it’s too late in the IPL, where peaking early is fraught with danger. Kolkata Knight Riders have strung three wins in a row and Mumbai Indians found their range the other day with their big guns striking at will.

KKR and MI are still playing catch-up but with four teams having 12 points each and only a point — from the abandoned match against Kolkata Knight Riders — separating them from pole-sitters Punjab, teams will have to factor in complacency and fickle form.

Punjab Kings, whose middle order is being adroitly manned by skipper Shreyas Iyer, have had few worries on that count. Delhi Capitals will vouch for the force of the collective after KL Rahul’s unbeaten 152 was laid to waste with Iyer brilliant in chasing down Delhi’s 264/2.

The self-belief and can-do spirit in the Punjab ranks has been infectious with Iyer at the forefront. His catch to get rid of Hardik Pandya while still aerial and his game smarts to relay the ball, all in one motion, to Xavier Bartlett charging in from long-off was cleanly executed and stunning in effect. Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Heinrich Klaasen displayed some of that same clinical execution — also against Mumbai — and the hosts will need more from him in the crunch match against Punjab on Wednesday.

The quick turnaround after the defeats SRH and Punjab suffered to Kolkata and Gujarat Titans respectively on Sunday, when both teams looked flat and totally off-colour, should not be an impediment for the in-form teams to turn on the style as they look to pull away from the rest in the race to the playoffs.