Sunrisers Hyderabad Set 227-Run Target for Kolkata Knight Riders, Abhishek Dismissal Sparks Controversy

Hyderabad’s Sunrisers have posted 227 runs as the target for Kolkata Knight Riders in the sixth match of IPL 2026. Both teams are seeking their first win of the tournament. Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, and Heinrich Klaasen were instrumental in helping SRH post this massive total.

Sunrisers lost the toss and chose to bat first against Kolkata at Eden Gardens in the match played on Thursday. They managed to score 226 runs in 8 wickets after their 20 overs. Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma scored 82 runs in the opening 5.4 overs of the innings. Travis was dismissed for 46 off 21 balls with 3 sixes and 6 fours. By the end of the powerplay, SRH had scored 84 runs for the loss of 2 wickets. In the 9th over, the team suffered two blows in the form of captain Ishan Kishan (14) and Abhishek Sharma (48 runs off 21 balls). SRH had lost 4 wickets in 9.2 overs.

From here, Heinrich Klaasen added 82 runs in 53 balls for the fifth wicket with Nitish Reddy. Nitish was dismissed for 39 runs in 24 balls with 5 boundaries. Apart from this, Heinrich Klaasen played an innings of 52 runs in 35 balls. His innings included 1 six and 4 fours. For KKR, Blessing Muzarabani took 4 wickets for 41 runs, while Vaibhav Arora took 2 wickets. Kartik Tyagi and Anukul Roy took 1 wicket each.

Abhishek Sharma's dismissal in this match sparked major controversy. Varun Chakravarthy took the catch on the fourth ball of the ninth over when Abhishek Sharma played a shot over mid-off off Blessing Muzarabani. However, replays showed the ball first touched the ground and then landed in his hand. Despite this, the third umpire declared him out. Following this decision, social media has been continuously criticizing the decision as wrong, and fans are expressing their displeasure.