2 for 31 was Sunil Narine's homecoming. Varun Chakravarthy is also 3 for 36. 8-0-67-5 is that. For the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), it was essentially game, set, and match. It's a significant turnaround for KKR, who have now won three straight after losing five (plus a washout) in IPL 2026. Naturally, Varun's return to form has coincided with this, while Narine has continued to perform as he has done season after season.
Narine conceded 20 runs in his two powerplay overs on Sunday afternoon/evening in Hyderabad. Then, in his final two, the tenth and the sixteenth, he only scored eleven.

If there was ever a chokehold. What about Varun? After the powerplay, he entered the game and was mostly taken for 13 by Travis Head. He went for 16 even after dismissing Head in the ninth over. However, he recovered in the 12th over, dismissing R Smaran and conceding just four runs. In his last over, the 14th, he dismissed Aniket Verma and conceded just four more.
Ambati Rayudu noted on ESPNcricinfo's TimeOut show, "Varun started off bowling at a slightly faster pace and then he slowed it down [in the middle overs] once he got hit."

Varun had a rough start to the event, going 0 for 48 and 0 for 31. After that, he had to deal with a hand injury. Additionally, it has been 10 for 117 in the last four games. Narine is being stingy as usual, but KKR is doing well. which SRH discovered on Sunday.
"At the post-match press conference, SRH coach Daniel Vettori stated, "I think they found a [good] length with the spinners in particular." "Even after we put him under pressure in those first few overs, Chakravarthy was still able to take wickets, and wickets are the most valuable currency in T20 and IPL matches. They were able to accomplish that throughout."The pitch simply held up enough as the ball became older, and it's two elite spinners who have been successful for KKR for a long time. "But just losing wickets at crucial times and probably the manner as well where we had the opportunity to get through that period and to lose those wickets in that fashion just held us back." I believe it was more the softness of the ball than the pitch, and we had a chance to try to set it up for the final four or five overs after the spinners had finished their allotted overs.

As was mentioned on ESPNcricinfo early in the IPL season, KKR was concerned about Varun's performance following a dismal T20 World Cup. Piyush Chawla and Rayudu had agreed on TimeOut that Varun was looking for miraculous balls out of "desperation" to take wickets. He was simply not getting it right, bowling more quickly, and not applying enough revs to the ball. But now he's back. It might be a little late for KKR to rush to the playoffs, but if Varun and Narine can continue, you never know.