Kolkata, April 2 (IANS) Left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat returned with impressive figures of 3-21 as Sunrisers Hyderabad delivered a commanding bowling performance to crush Kolkata Knight Riders by 65 runs and secure their first victory of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 at the Eden Gardens on Thursday.

After SRH posted 226/8, the highest total of the competition so far, Unadkat’s spell was the highlight of the innings. He was well supported by Eshan Malinga, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Harsh Dubey, who maintained relentless pressure throughout as KKR were bowled out for 161 in 16 overs.

The victory was significant not only because it gave SRH their first two points of the campaign, but also because it marked the first successful defence of a total in this year’s tournament. Barring Angkrish Raghuvanshi’s 52, KKR faltered against the disciplined SRH attack, with the pacers using slower balls very well. As a result, they never really threatened to chase down the uphill target.

KKR’s chase began explosively as Finn Allen smashed 28 off just seven balls, including four boundaries and two sixes in the 25-run opening over bowled by David Payne. But Dubey struck a crucial blow by dismissing Allen through a sharp caught and bowled chance.

Ajinkya Rahane and Raghuvanshi carried the momentum through a 37-run stand for the second wicket, with the latter looking sublime in his strokeplay. But SRH soon made a comeback as Unadkat removed Rahane with a slower ball, which he hit to mid-wicket, while Cameron Green was run out on the last ball of the sixth over, leaving KKR at 74/3.

Raghuvanshi continued to attack and reached his second consecutive fifty in 27 balls, before being run out for 52 in the 11th over. Nitish, on the money with his lines, accounted for Anukul Roy and Rinku Singh in quick succession to derail KKR’s chase.

Despite a brief counterattack from Sunil Narine, who struck two sixes in his 12-run cameo, Malinga dismissed him and Ramandeep Singh in successive overs. Unadkat then returned to remove Kartik Tyagi and Varun Chakaravarthy to end with figures of 3-21 and get their first win of the competition.

Brief scores:

Sunrisers Hyderabad 226/8 in 20 overs (Heinrich Klaasen 52, Abhishek Sharma 48; Blessing Muzarabani 4-41, Vaibhav Arora 2-47) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 161 in 16 overs (Angkrish Raghuvanshi 52, Rinku Singh 35; Jaydev Unadkat 3-21, Eshan Malinga 2-14) by 65 runs

–IANS

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