Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Sunrisers Hyderabad Match Scorecard: Full IPL 2026 Head-to-Head & Analysis

Eden Gardens, April 2, 2026. Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma are 21 balls into the SRH innings, and they’ve already put on 82 runs. KKR’s bowlers look completely out of ideas. Thirty-one days and one venue change later, the exact same two franchises meet again in Hyderabad and this time, KKR’s spinners do to SRH’s batting what SRH’s openers had just done to KKR.

But here’s the real problem with how most sites cover this rivalry: they treat each match as a standalone event. Nobody explains that the season actually split 1-1, with each team dominating on the other’s home turf, or that a single player Ishan Kishan went from a contributing SRH middle-order presence in match one to a costly failure in match two. This article gives you both full scorecards, plus the connected story competitors miss entirely.

What Actually Happened Between KKR and SRH in IPL 2026

KKR and SRH met twice in IPL 2026 once in Kolkata in early April, once in Hyderabad in early May. What most people miss is how completely the tactical balance flipped between the two games. In the first meeting, SRH’s batting overwhelmed KKR’s bowling attack. In the second, KKR’s spin duo of Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine did exactly the same thing to SRH.

This is where things go wrong for most coverage they report each result separately and never connect the dots.

The reality is that this head-to-head tells a genuinely balanced story: both teams have a specific, repeatable way of beating the other, and neither has solved the other’s blueprint yet.

Season Head-to-Head Summary Table

Match	Date	Venue	Result	Margin	Player of the Match
Match 6	April 2, 2026	Eden Gardens, Kolkata	Sunrisers Hyderabad won	65 runs	Nitish Kumar Reddy (39 off 24, 2/17)
Match 45	May 3, 2026	Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad	Kolkata Knight Riders won	7 wickets	Varun Chakravarthy (3/36)

Season head-to-head: 1-1.

Match 6 (April 2, 2026): Full Scorecard at Eden Gardens

Head and Abhishek’s 82-Run Opening Stand

SRH won the toss, batted first, and never looked back. Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma put on 82 runs for the first wicket, with Head striking at well over 200 and Abhishek finishing his innings with a strike rate of 228.57 the highest of anyone on the ground that day.

What most people miss is that SRH actually lost momentum briefly after this stand, slipping to 118/4, before Heinrich Klaasen and Nitish Kumar Reddy rebuilt aggressively to push the total past 226.

Full Batting and Bowling Tables: Match 6

SRH Batting

Batter	Runs	Balls	4s	6s	Notes
Abhishek Sharma	48	21	4	4	Strike rate of 228.57, the fastest innings of the match
Travis Head	46	21	6	3	Part of the 82-run opening stand
Heinrich Klaasen	52	35	4	1	Rebuilt the innings after a mid-innings wobble
Nitish Kumar Reddy	39	24	—	—	Strike rate of 162; also took 2 wickets
Ishan Kishan	—	—	—	—	Dismissed in the mid-innings collapse phase (fall of wicket at 111, 8.2 overs)

KKR Batting

Batter	Runs	Balls	4s	6s	Notes
Angkrish Raghuvanshi	52	29	—	—	Top scorer for KKR, couldn’t sustain the chase
Rinku Singh	35	25	4	1	Fought hard but ran out of partners
Finn Allen	28	7	3	2	Explosive start, dismissed early at 1.3 overs

Bowling Figures: Match 6

Bowler (Team)	Wickets	Notes
Nitish Kumar Reddy (SRH)	2/17	Player of the Match for his all-round contribution
Jaydev Unadkat (SRH)	—	Spearheaded the attack alongside Reddy
Pat Cummins (SRH)	1	Dismissed Finn Allen early, caught by Klaasen

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SRH posted 226/8, their highest total against KKR in recent seasons, and bowled KKR out for 161 in 16 overs to win by 65 runs.

Match 45 (May 3, 2026): Full Scorecard at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium

SRH’s Collapse From 105/1 to 165 All Out

SRH looked in complete control at 105 for 1 in the ninth over, with Travis Head well set. Then Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine combined to take five wickets between them, and SRH collapsed to 165 all out in 19 overs.

What most people miss is how precisely this mirrors the first match in reverse the same kind of top-order dominance followed by a middle-order collapse, just with the roles swapped between the two teams.

Full Batting and Bowling Tables: Match 45

SRH Batting

Batter	Runs	Notes
Travis Head	61	Anchored the innings before the collapse began
Ishan Kishan	42	His only substantial score of the head-to-head, in a losing effort

KKR Batting

Batter	Runs	Balls	4s	6s	Notes
Angkrish Raghuvanshi	59	47	5	2	Career-best innings, anchored the chase
Ajinkya Rahane	43	36	4	1	Key supporting innings; dismissed at 15 overs
Finn Allen	29	13	3	2	Explosive start again; dismissed at 4 overs

Bowling Figures: Match 45

Bowler (Team)	Overs	Runs	Wickets	Notes
Varun Chakravarthy (KKR)	—	36	3	Player of the Match
Sunil Narine (KKR)	—	31	2	Combined with Varun for 5 wickets total
Vaibhav Tyagi (KKR)	—	30	2	Supported the spin-led collapse
Sakib Hussain (SRH)	—	17	1	Dismissed Rahane, caught by Ravichandran Smaran
Pat Cummins (SRH)	—	—	1	Dismissed Finn Allen, caught by Klaasen
Shivang Kumar (SRH)	—	—	1	Dismissed Raghuvanshi late in the chase

KKR shaved 71 runs off the target inside the powerplay alone and chased down 166 for the loss of just 3 wickets, sealing their third successive win of the season.

The Ishan Kishan Swing: One Player, Two Different Matches

Ishan Kishan’s arc across this head-to-head is a story nobody else is telling. In the first match, he contributed to SRH’s middle order during their push past 200, dismissed as part of a rapid collapse phase but still adding value in a winning total. In the second match, he managed just 42 runs in a losing total that saw SRH lose their last nine wickets for just 60 runs after being 105/1.

What people underestimate about a player like Kishan is that his form isn’t really the variable here the collapse pattern around him is. Both times SRH lost wickets in clusters, it happened after their top order had already done the hard work, suggesting a middle-order fragility that has nothing to do with any single batter and everything to do with SRH’s death-overs game plan.

The Turning Points: Where Both Matches Were Actually Decided

Most reports describe both matches as simple “team X batted/bowled better” stories. That’s surface-level. Here’s what actually decided each result, over by over.

Match	Turning Point	Impact
Match 6	Head and Abhishek’s 82-run opening stand	Sets a platform SRH never relinquish, despite a mid-innings wobble to 118/4
Match 6	Klaasen and Reddy’s rebuild after the wobble	Pushes SRH from a good total to a genuinely commanding 226/8
Match 6	KKR lose Finn Allen inside 2 overs	Removes their most explosive powerplay option before the chase gets going
Match 45	SRH reach 105/1 in the 9th over	Looks like a repeat of Match 6’s dominant top order
Match 45	Varun Chakravarthy and Narine take 5 wickets between them	Turns a promising total into a collapse; SRH lose 9 for 60
Match 45	Raghuvanshi’s 59 anchors the chase	Converts KKR’s bowling win into a comfortable batting result too

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Player Performance Breakdown Across Both Matches

Standout Performers

• Travis Head (SRH): Scored in both matches (46 and 61), the most consistent batter across the head-to-head. Grade: A
• Angkrish Raghuvanshi (KKR): Scored 52 and then a career-best 59 across the two meetings — genuinely the form player of this rivalry. Grade: A+
• Varun Chakravarthy (KKR): Match-winning 3/36 in the decider, the single biggest bowling performance of either game. Grade: A+
• Nitish Kumar Reddy (SRH): All-round Player of the Match display in Match 6, contributing with both bat and ball. Grade: A

Underwhelming Performances

• Ishan Kishan (SRH): A modest contributor in Match 6, then part of a batting collapse in Match 45 despite his own 42.
• KKR’s middle order (Match 6): Beyond Raghuvanshi and Rinku Singh, no other batter offered resistance as KKR folded for 161.
• SRH’s middle-to-lower order (Match 45): Lost 9 wickets for just 60 runs after a promising 105/1 start — a repeatable fragility.

What People Think vs What Actually Happened

Most fans assume one of these two franchises is simply the stronger team this season. The head-to-head record says otherwise: it’s a genuine 1-1 split, with each side winning comprehensively on the other’s home ground. That’s not a coincidence of form it reflects two teams with real, matching strengths that neither has found an answer for yet.

Another common assumption is that SRH’s Eden Gardens win in April makes them favorites in any rematch. In reality, KKR’s spin attack specifically exploited the exact kind of top-order dominance that won SRH the first match, proving that a big powerplay score doesn’t guarantee a result once specialist bowlers like Chakravarthy and Narine get involved in the middle overs.

Key Takeaways for the Rest of the Season

• SRH’s top order (Head, Abhishek Sharma) is genuinely dangerous, but their middle-to-lower order has now collapsed under spin pressure at least once this season a pattern KKR and other spin-heavy teams should target again.
• KKR’s power at the top (Finn Allen) creates fast starts but needs more support through the middle order after Match 6’s total collapse for 161.
• Angkrish Raghuvanshi has emerged as KKR’s most consistent batter in this fixture and deserves a fixed top-order role for the rest of the season.
• Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine combining for 5 wickets shows KKR’s spin pairing is their most reliable route to victory against top-heavy batting lineups.

Frequently Asked Questions