Earlier in the day, Chennai ended their campaign on a high with a win over Gujarat in Ahmedabad. That result has kept the race for the top two wide open, with both spots still up for grabs and just two games left in the league stage. On Monday, 26th May, in Jaipur, 2nd-placed Punjab Kings will take on 4th-placed Mumbai Indians. The winner of that match will secure a top-two finish. The game will start at 7.30 pm IST (2 pm GMT), and as always, we will be here well in advance to bring you all the build-up. Until then, take care and goodbye!

For SRH, the season started with a strong total of 286 and ended with 278, both resulting in wins, but things didn’t go their way in between. For KKR, the season couldn’t have ended worse, with this 110-run loss marking their biggest defeat by runs in IPL history. With this win, Hyderabad climb to 6th place with 6 wins from 14 games, while Kolkata sit 8th with 5 wins.

Heinrich Klaasen of SRH is the PLAYER OF THE MATCH for his match-defining century. He scored an unbeaten 105 off just 39 balls, including seven fours and nine towering sixes. He collects the award and walks up for a chat. Begins by saying that the franchise puts in a lot of money and they have been around for 13-14 years. Admits they had a bad start to the tournament, but played really well in the last three or four games. Also adds that the team gave them an incredible holiday in the middle of the season. Says he didn't do well in the early stages despite getting a few good starts. Says the plan was to go straight on this ground as the boundaries are short, and points that he got his trajectory better with the shots, as he didn't take on too many fielders. Further details that he worked a lot on judging lengths. Says he wanted to bat up the order. Adds they always lost a couple of early wickets but this time, they got off to a good start. Concludes by saying that his role is to usually go to bat after the powerplay, and says sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't. 

The captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad, Pat Cummins, says the finish to the season has been amazing. He feels that with the skill of players they have, they couldn’t have played worse than how they did in the middle games. He says on flat tracks they have been good, but the tracks where par score has been around that 170-180 mark, they have faltered. He mentions that many players were given opportunities, and they are happy with what they have seen from the new players. Adds that he is overall happy with the squad they have. He feels it’s always unfortunate when some players miss out on playing due to injuries.

Time for the presentation ceremony...

Harsh Dubey of Sunrisers Hyderabad is in for a chat. He says his plan was to stick to his strengths and he tried to spin the ball as much as possible. He mentions he has been working on himself for the last five years and some of the NCA coaches have helped him a lot. He also says that he keeps talking with Ravichandran Ashwin. Talking about his Ranji Trophy performance, he says if you have performance behind your back, it always helps, but he was only thinking about how to prove himself in white ball cricket and was preparing accordingly.

The captain of Kolkata Knight Riders, Ajinkya Rahane, reflects on the defeat. He begins by saying that SRH batted really well. Admits they made a lot of errors with the ball, but also points out that the opposition batters hit the good balls as well with great intent. About not bowling many slower balls, he says there was a discussion to bowl slower ones, but says the bowlers didn't execute well, and that's where batters like Klaasen and others cashed in. Highlights that they had their chances throughout the season, but accepts that they didn't play well as a unit. Stresses that in the tournament like IPL, you need to switch on every moment, and says if they had taken their chances, they would have been in the top four. In the end, he says there are no regrets, but a lot of learning from this season. Feels that all the players tried to give their best and concludes with the hope of coming back stronger in the next season.

Earlier in the night, after opting to bat first, SRH delivered the kind of explosive batting performance many had hoped to see more often this season. Travis Head got off to a real flyer and set the tone. Coming in early at number 3, Heinrich Klaasen joined in on the fun and took it up a notch. His 100 came off just 37 balls, the joint third-fastest century in IPL history and ultimately SRH finished on 278, the third-highest total ever recorded in the league.

After Narine’s dismissal, wickets fell regularly. There were no meaningful partnerships, and none of the batters managed to inject any real momentum into the innings. Harshit Rana and Manish Pandey struck a few lusty blows, but they only served to reduce the margin of defeat. Speaking of impact with the ball for Hyderabad, impact sub Harsh Dubey made his mark with three wickets, including the big scalps of Rinku Singh and Andre Russell off consecutive deliveries. Eshan Malinga and Jaydev Unadkat also chipped in with three wickets each.

Sunrisers Hyderabad sign off with three wins in a row! Last year’s runners-up put in a dominant performance to bow out on a high. Their batters set up the win with fireworks, and the bowling unit backed it up well. A tame end to the season for the defending champions, Kolkata Knight Riders, who were outplayed and outclassed on the night. KKR got off to a decent start, scoring 32 runs in the first three overs with Sunil Narine finding his rhythm early but that was as good as it got.

Anrich Nortje walks out to bat.

Vaibhav Arora walks in.