Sunrisers Hyderabad assistant coach James Franklin revealed the detailed planning that went into the early dismissal of Punjab Kings opener Priyansh Arya, saying that skipper Pat Cummins and the SRH bowling group specifically focused on how he preferred to bat.
Arya, who has emerged as one of the Punjab Kings’ top-order batsmen this season, was rewarded by Cummins with a short ball outside the off-stump during Sunrisers Hyderabad’s commanding 41-run IPL victory on Wednesday.
SRH vs PBKS: MAIN | SCORECARD
According to Franklin, the dismissal was far from accidental.
“I think it was a little pre-planned. Obviously, the pitching staff is doing a lot of work with Varon Aaron, our bowling coach,” Franklin said after the game.
“Sometimes you don’t necessarily throw the ball that the court is expecting. We’ve seen the ball before. He played a pretty good serve, bounced well on a similar line and obviously caught him off guard a little bit. He made a similar pass again and created an opportunity.”
Pitchers took advantage of Arya’s scoring preference
Franklin said that modern T20 cricket requires a deep understanding of the scoring patterns and tendencies of the opposition batsmen, especially in a high-scoring competition like the IPL.
“You know the opposition batsmen’s strengths and weaknesses. Obviously all our bowlers do well and Pat was able to expose that, create an opportunity and we got the first breakthrough,” he added.
The tactical dismissal set the tone for a strong performance by SRH as the hosts climbed to the top of the points table.
Earlier, Heinrich Klaasen and Ishan Kishan punished Punjab Kings’ sloppy fielding and chased Hyderabad to an impressive 235 for four after PBKS opted to bowl first.
Klaasen smashed 69 off 43 balls despite being dropped for nine, while Kishan survived two reprieve and smashed 55 off 32 deliveries.
Punjab Kings never recovered in the chase despite Cooper Connolly’s sensational unbeaten 107. The left-hander fought a lone battle with seven fours and eight sixes but lacked support from the other end as Punjab were restricted to 202 for seven.
Cummins returned figures of 2 for 34 while Shivang Kumar also picked up two wickets to finish overall win for Hyderabad.
IPL 2026 | IPL Schedule | IPL Points Table | IPL Player Stats | Purple Cap | Orange Cap | IPL Videos | Cricket News | Live Score
– The end
Issued by:
Amar Panicker
Published on:
May 7, 2026 12:05 PM IST
