Punjab Kings have now lost three matches on the trot after having a “fairytale” start to their IPL 2026 campaign when they registered six wins from their first seven matches.
PBKS losing to Sunrisers Hyderabad by 33 runs on Wednesday is a worrying sign for the Shreyas Iyer-led side at the business end of the tournament. SRH have now taken the top spot in the rankings, with PBKS dropping to second.
“I feel we got a fairytale start in the tournament, and everyone was in a great space. If we are going to continue with the same form, that’s not going to help us,” Shreyas said at the post-match presentation.
Punjab also had a poor outing on the field where they dropped catches and missed stumpings, which proved to be costly as SRH batters taking advantage of those reprieves posted 235 for 4, more than a par score on a tracked that got slower as the game progressed.
“It (the target) was a bit too much because we dropped catches at the start and we could have easily delayed their score by 30 to 40 runs. The wicket kept getting slower. They played comprehensive cricket, and showed us how to win the match.”
Cooper Connolly’s staged a lone fight by scoring an unbeaten century on Wednesday, playing in his debut IPL season. Shreyas lauded his mindset when batting in pressure situations.
“Connolly is phenomenal. 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,” said Shreyas.
SRH skipper Pat Cummins was pleased with his side’s all-round performance, and said the wicket in the second innings kind of suited their bowlers.
“Punjab are a really good side. I thought the batters to get off to what we did was sensational. No matter what the score is, bowling second against that side was clinical,” Cummins said.
“We’re pretty good at playing it at our pace. It’s just trying to max out. It gripped a little bit, which suits our bowlers. We’ve seen it before; we can adjust.”
Cummins had missed the first few games as he was recovering from a back injury and was adjudged the Player of the Match for his spell of 2 for 34 that included the prized wickets of Shreyas and Priyansh Arya.
“I fell really good. Came into this fresh. Not much has worked for any team in the powerplay, really. We’ve got lots of options,” Cummins added.
