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Coach Daniel Vettori says bowler-friendly home pitches hurt Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League this year after they fell out of contention in the competition.

Sunrisers, beaten finalists last year, are eighth in the standings and unable to qualify for the play-offs after Monday's washout against Delhi Capitals.

Sunrisers, known for their high-scoring batting line-up, made three totals in excess of 200 at home last year, plus another three away, but this season have largely struggled.

They piled up 286-6 in their first match of the season but have since only passed 200 once. The average first innings score at the Sunrisers home ground has also dropped from 205 to 192.

"This year, the conditions weren't as we expected," former New Zealand spinner Vettori said.

"If you look at last year, there were a lot of high-scoring games here.

"These surfaces in particular have been a little bit different. It has been tricky, it hasn't been easy for the batters."

Sunrisers' struggles can also be shown by the fact key batters Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen are all outside of the top 25 in the run-scoring charts for 2025.

Head, Abhishek and Klaasen were fourth, 10th and 11th respectively in that list last year.

"There have been two surfaces that have been 250-plus, and there have been four here that have been probably more conducive for the fast bowlers," Vettori said.

"Not so much the spinners but new ball has been a little bit sticky, hard to hit, not coming onto the bat.

"The IPL has some of the best new-ball bowlers in the world and they were able to exploit those conditions."

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Sunrisers Hyderabad hopes of reaching the Indian Premier League play-offs are over after rain washed out their match against Delhi Capitals.

Needing to win their last four matches to have any chance of qualifying, Sunrisers' bowlers did their job by restricting the Capitals to 133-7.

It could have been worse for the visitors who were 29-5 but Tristan Stubbs hit 41 not out and Ashutosh Sharma 41. Sunrisers captain Pat Cummins took 3-19.

Sunrisers' bid was ruined, however, when the drizzle that arrived late in Delhi's innings turned into torrential rain during the interval.

The players were unable to return to the field.

The point moves Sunrisers - beaten finalists last year - up to eighth but with three matches left they are seven points outside of the top four.

Delhi remain fifth, having missed the chance to move into the top four, but the point is more than looked likely during their batting effort.

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Multan Sultans' miserable Pakistan Super League campaign continued with a seven-wicket defeat by Peshawar Zalmi.

On the back of seven defeats in eight matches, Multan were dismissed for 108 in 19.1 overs.

They reached 60-2 in the ninth but the loss of Tayyab Tahir for 22 sparked a sorry collapse of eight wickets for 48 runs.

It was the fourth time they have been dismissed for less than 120 in this year's competition.

Peshawar took just 13 overs to complete their chase. Opener Saim Ayub scored 49 and Australian Max Bryant 38 not out.

Multan remain bottom of the table while Peshawar stay fifth with two group-stage matches remaining but are now only a point behind the Lahore Qalandars who have played a game more.

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Prabhsimran Singh hit 91 from 48 balls as Punjab Kings beat Lucknow Super Giants by 37 runs to move second in the Indian Premier League.

The opener hit six fours and seven sixes, making a half-century for the third match in a row, as his side cruised to 236-5.

The 24-year-old put on partnerships of 48 with Josh Inglis (30), 78 with Shreyas Iyer (45) and 54 with Shashank Singh (33 not out), falling in Digvesh Singh Rathi's penultimate over, caught in the covers by Nicholas Pooran.

Lucknow were never in the chase, with Arshdeep Singh (3-16) removing openers Mitchell Marsh (0) and Aiden Markram (13) in the space of four balls before returning to trap Pooran lbw for six.

Azmatullah Omarzai had both Rishabh Pant (18) and David Miller (11) caught by Shashank at point as Lucknow slipped to 74-5 at the halfway stage, way behind the required run-rate.

Ayush Badoni and Abdul Samad dug in for almost seven overs, putting on 81 for the sixth wicket, until the latter was caught and bowled by Marco Jansen for 45.

Badoni was ultimately caught at short third by Arshdeep in Yuzvendra Chahal's final over, finishing with a 40-ball 74, as Lucknow finished on 199-7.

Kings move up two places to second, one point behind leaders Royal Challengers Bengaluru, while Lucknow remain in seventh with five wins and six defeats.

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Lahore Qalandars missed the chance to go top of the Pakistan Super League as Irfan Khan Niazi hit an unbeaten 48 from 21 balls to seal a four-wicket win for Karachi Kings in a rain-affected game.

Chasing a revised target of 168, Niazi struck five sixes in the final three overs, including one to finish the match with three balls to spare.

Having been put into bat, Lahore's openers raced to 90 before the dismissal of Mohammad Naeem (65) in the eighth over, after which the players were forced off.

When play resumed Fakhar Zaman pushed on to 51, but Lahore lost a flurry of wickets as they hurried to set a score in a reduced 15-overs-a-side game.

Abbas Afridi took 4-27 while five Lahore batters were out for single figures as the home side finished on 160-8.

Karachi openers David Warner and Tim Seifert both made 24 in the reply, while James Vince was caught at long-off off Rishad Hossain for 13.

When Khushdil Shah was the fifth wicket to fall, caught by Naeem off Haris Rauf for nine, Karachi needed 52 from 22 deliveries.

Niazi and Mohammad Nabi (15) responded with a 45-run partnership, and while Nabi was caught tamely from the first ball of Daryl Mitchell's final over, his batting partner hit the remaining seven runs required to close out the victory.

Karachi move above their opponents into third, level on points with second-place Islamabad United, while Lahore remain two points off leaders Quetta Gladiators but with a superior net run-rate.

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Kolkata Knight Riders remain in contention for the Indian Premier League end of season play-offs after beating Rajasthan Royals by just one run.

Chasing 207, Rajasthan required 22 runs from Vaibhav Arora's final over, and Shubham Dubey smashed two sixes and a four to leave them needing three from the final ball.

Dubey struck the last delivery to long-off, and Rinku Singh's throw beat Jofra Archer's attempt to return to the non-striker's end for a two and resulting tie and super over.

The defending champions would have hoped for a less nervy finish, having had their opponents 71-5 in the eighth over.

The 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi was dismissed for a two-ball four before Moeen Ali removed Yashasvi Jaiswal (34) and then Kunal Rathore for a duck.

Rathore was the first of three batters to be dismissed without scoring, as Varun Chakravarthy bowled Dhruv Jurel and Wanindu Hasaranga within the space of three balls.

The visitors' fortunes were turned by Riyan Parag and Shimron Hetmyer, who put on a partnership of 92.

Parag struck eight sixes in his 45-ball innings, including six consecutive boundary clearances, the first five from Moeen's 13th over.

The pairing was broken by Harshit Rana, who had Hetmyer top-edge to Sunil Narine for 29 then saw Parag hole out to Arora for a 45-ball 95.

Kolkata's total of 206-4 was a team effort with Rahmanullah Gurbaz (35), Ajinkya Rahane (30), Angkrish Raghuvanshi (44) all chipping in, before Andre Russell (57 off 25) and Singh (19 off 6) finished the innings strongly, setting a score that Rajasthan couldn't quite chase down.

Kolkata move up one place to sixth, two points off Punjab Kings in the final play-off position but having played one game more.

Rajasthan remain in eighth with three wins and nine losses and are out of play-off contention.

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Punjab Kings have signed Australian Mitchell Owen as a replacement for injured compatriot Glenn Maxwell at the Indian Premier League.

Owen, 23, is currently playing for Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan Super League and it is unclear if he will leave immediately or join the Kings when that tournament concludes.

Peshawar's final group-stage game is on 9 May but they may yet reach the play-offs which run until 17 May. If they do reach the latter stages he could join the Kings for the IPL knockouts, which start on 20 May.

Owen's prominence has risen in recent months after he hit a 39-ball century as Hobart Hurricanes won the Big Bash final in January.

He played in the SA20 after and has averaged 16.83 in six PSL innings, while claiming two wickets.

Maxwell has been ruled out with a fractured finger. The all-rounder struggled for form with single-figure returns in five of his six innings and a high score of just 30.

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Islamabad United slipped to a third consecutive defeat with a two-wicket loss to Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League.

Having won their first five matches, Islamabad have now lost their place at the top of the standings to their opponents.

Hasan Nawaz anchored Quetta's chase of 158, hitting an unbeaten 64 from 41 balls as his side reached their target with a ball to spare.

No other batter passed 27, and Islamabad may have been hopeful of victory after Kyle Jamieson was dismissed for three to leave Quetta 117-7 in the 16th over.

However Nawaz added 26 with Mohammad Wasim, then struck the remaining 16 runs required in the final over, with two sizes and a pair of twos.

Mohammad Nawaz had been the highlight of Islamabad's innings, hitting 49 from 34 before he was dismissed in Jamieson's final over.

Sahibzada Farhan and Kyle Mayers struck an opening partnership of 58, but six batters were out for 10 or less, four of them falling to Faheem Ashraf for the cost of 25 runs.

Quetta now top the table with five wins, two losses and one no result from their eight games, while Islamabad sit in second with five victories and three defeats.

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Jos Buttler scored his fifth half-century of the 2025 Indian Premier League to help Gujarat Titans beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 38 runs and join the leaders at the top of the table.

Former England white-ball captain Buttler scored 64 from 37 balls with four sixes in Gujarat's imposing 224-6.

He was dropped by Australia captain Pat Cummins on 22 but found boundaries with his trademark strokeplay until he holed out off Cummins in the penultimate over.

Buttler is now third in the run-scoring standings at this year's IPL with 470 runs in 10 innings.

Team-mate Sai Sudharsan, who scored 48, is top on 504 while Shubman Gill is fourth after an elegant 76.

Opener Abhishek Sharma batted until the 15th over for 74 in pursuit but the Sunrisers were always behind the required scoring rate.

Needing 86 from the final five overs, they finished on 186-6. Seamer Prasidh Krishna took 2-19 and is now the leading wicket-taker with 19.

"The guys are in great form at the top, setting brilliant platforms," Buttler said of Gill and Sudharsan.

"They are two guys who are quite traditional with a fantastic technique. They take you by surprise how fast they score with classical shots."

Gujarat, who were also excellent in the field, join Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the top of the table on 14 points.

Mumbai are top courtesy of their net run-rate but have played a game more while the Titans edged above RCB, who play eliminated Chennai Super Kings on Sunday, into second.

Sunrisers, beaten finalists last year, are ninth on six points - seven points adrift of the top four meaning their play-off hopes are all but over.

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Leaders Islamabad United suffered their second successive defeat in the Pakistan Super League as they were comfortably beaten by six wickets by Peshawar Zalmi.

Islamabad, who won their first five matches before defeat by Lahore Qalandars, struggled with the bat and posted only 143-9. Opener Sahibzada Farhan was their highest scorer with 36 from 35 balls.

Peshawar took only 16.4 overs to chase their target with captain Babar Azam easing to 53 not out from 49 balls.

Islamabad stay top of the standings but Lahore and Quetta Gladiators are only a point behind.

Zalmi stay fifth with six points from seven games.

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Multan Sultans continued their dismal Pakistan Super League campaign with a crushing 87-run defeat to Karachi Kings.

The league's bottom side, who have now won one of their eight matches, were chasing 205, but were bowled out for 117 with 23 balls to spare.

Afghanistan all-rounder Mohammad Nabi took 3-14 for Karachi, who dismissed six Multan batters for single figures.

Kamran Ghulam top-scored for Multan with 29, while former England bowler David Willey was run-out for a duck by compatriot James Vince after facing one ball.

Vince had been the pick of the Karachi batters after they won the toss and chose to set a total, hitting an unbeaten 65 from 45 from number three.

Captain David Warner (30 from 13) and Tim Seifert (22 from 11) put on an opening partnership of 53 inside four overs, before both fell inside the space of three balls.

Vince added 68 with Irfan Khan Niazi (40) and 66 with Khushdil Shah (33 not out) as Karachi closed on 204-4, a total that proved well beyond Multan.

Karachi remain in fourth position, with four wins and three defeats.

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The match between Lahore Qalandars and Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League was abandoned in the first innings because of rain.

Lahore were 111-3 having batted 11.3 overs when the players were forced off the field.

Fakhar Zaman had been bowled for a duck by Khurram Shahzad from the third ball of the game, but Mohammad Naeem (50) and Abdullah Shafique (53 not out) added 101 for the home side's second wicket.

Abrar Ahmed had Naeem caught by Hasan Nawaz, and then saw Daryl Mitchell taken for three by Rilee Rossouw in his next over from what proved to be the last ball of the match.

The sides remain level on nine points, with Lahore one place above Quetta in second thanks to a superior run-rate, but having played a game more.

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Punjab Kings all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has been ruled out of the remainder of the Indian Premier League season with an injury to his right hand.

The Australian missed Wednesday's match against Chennai Super Kings with his captain Shreyas Iyer saying before the toss that he had sustained a fractured finger.

Maxwell had played in seven of Kings' preceding nine games, but has struggled for form with single-figure totals in five of his six innings and a high score of just 30.

The 36-year-old has taken four wickets this season with his off-spin, at an average of 27.50.

Kings bought Maxwell at the pre-season mega auction for 4.2 crore (£390,000), after he played the previous four IPL seasons for Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

He is the franchise's second overseas player to see their season ended prematurely, after New Zealand seamer Lockie Ferguson injured his leg in mid-April.

"We will be signing some replacements at some stage," said Kings head coach Ricky Ponting.

"We've got until our 12th game [to name replacements], so we have a couple of games to go yet.

"We're having a look around at Indian talent as well and we're looking at what roles we might be able to fill."

Kings currently sit in second in the IPL table with six wins and three losses and will next face Lucknow Super Giants on Sunday, 4 May (15:00 BST).

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Lahore Qalandars inflicted a first defeat of the Pakistan Super League season on Islamabad United with a thumping 88-run victory.

Lahore piled up 209-6 and then impressively dismissed Islamabad, who had won all five of their previous matches, for 121 in 16.5 overs.

Fakhar Zaman's 44, 25 by Mohammad Naeem, 22 by Abdullah Shafique and 28 by Daryl Mitchell laid the platform for Lahore.

They were then powered beyond 200 by England wicketkeeper Sam Billings' 38 not out and 39 by Zimbabwe international Sikandar Raza - both faced only 17 balls - with 96 runs coming in the last six overs.

Off-spinner Raza took 3-20 and Haris Rauf 4-31 in Islamabad's sorry chase.

They remain top of the standings but Lahore move up to second two points behind.

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Kolkata Knight Riders boosted their hopes of qualifying for the Indian Premier League play-offs by beating Delhi Capitals by 14 runs.

After being held to 204-9 after a fast start, KKR removed the Capitals' top three inside seven overs.

Faf du Plessis and Capitals captain Axar Patel rebuilt to 136-3 with a fine partnership of 76 but Axar, who was struggling with a hand injury sustained while fielding, fell as the first of three wickets for veteran spinner Sunil Narine.

Axar was caught at cover for 43, South Africa Tristan Stubbs bowled for one four balls later and Du Plessis caught at deep mid-wicket for 62.

West Indies international Narine, standing in as skipper with Ajinkya Rahane off the field, then turned to fellow spinner Varun Chakravarthy who dismissed Ashutosh Sharma and Mitchell Starc in consecutive balls.

Some powerful hitting by Vipraj Nigam kept the game alive but, with 25 needed from the final over, the Capitals finished on 190-9. Nigam fell for 38 from 19 balls off the penultimate ball.

Narine and Ramanullah Gurbaz had earlier put on 48 in three overs for the first wicket in KKR's innings which faded late on.

Narine made 27, Gurbaz and Rahane 26, Angkrish Raghuvanshi 44 and Rinku Singh 36, meaning they passed 200 despite losing 5-45 in the final five overs.

Rahane said before KKR will have to win their final five matches to finish in the top four. They remain seventh but close the gap to the Capitals in fourth to three points.

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Multan Sultans' miserable run in the Pakistan Super League continued as they were bowled out for just 89 in a 10-wicket thrashing by Quetta Gladiators.

Opener Mohammad Rizwan batted through for a run-a-ball 44 but number nine Usama Mir, who made 11, was the only other batter to reach double figures.

The score was the Sultans' lowest in their history.

Pakistan international Usman Khan and New Zealand's Michael Bracewell made ducks while former England all-rounder David Willey was out for seven.

Seamer Khurram Shahzad took 4-23 and Multan were bundled out in 17 overs.

The Gladiators took just 6.5 overs to complete their chase with Finn Allen ending unbeaten on 45 and Saud Shakeel 42 not out.

Multan have now lost six of their seven matches this season and are bottom of the table. The Gladiators move up a place into second behind leaders and defending champions Islamabad United.

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