Chasing 208, Punjab were restricted to 181 for 9 with Shaun Marsh (84), Eoin Morgan (26) and Martin Guptill (23) the only big contributors.
For Hyderabad, Siddharth Kaul and Ashish Nehra scalped three wickets each while pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar took two wickets for 27 runs.
Punjab started off on a positive note but after adding 26 runs for the first wicket, opener Guptill was dismissed by Bhuvneshwar Kumar as he tried to loft the knuckle ball but was caught by Moises Henriques. Guptill’s 11-ball knock was laced with four boundaries and one six.
After one over, the in-form Manan Vohra (3) was sent packing by experienced pacer Nehra to make Punjab reel at 37 for 2 in four overs.
Skipper Glen Maxwell also failed to step up to the occasion as he was dismissed by Kaul on a duck.
Middle-order batsmen Marsh and Morgan then forged a 73-run partnership to give some hope to the hosts but while trying to pace up the scoring rate, the latter was dismissed by spinner Rashid Khan.
With 70 runs required from 30 balls, Wriddhiman Saha (2) came in to the middle and but could not gave Marsh the much-needed support as he was clean-bowled by Kaul in the 15th over.
Things got worse when Marsh was sent back to the pavilion in the next over. His brilliant 50-ball knock was stopped by Bhuvneshwar with the score on 138/5. Marsh slammed 14 boundaries and one six before he was caught at deep mid-wicket by Hooda.
Punjab’s lower-middle order also failed to deliver with Axar Patel (16), Anureet Singh (15), Mohit Sharma (2), Ishant Sharma (5 not out) failed to achieve the required run-rate.
Earlier, put in to bat, openers David Warner (77) and Shikhar Dhawan (51) helped Sunrisers Hyderabad post a challenging 207 for 3.
Down the order, Kane Williamson (54 not out) upped the scoring rate along with middle-order batsman Henriques, adding 31 runs in two overs to post a challenging total.
For Punjab, Maxwell scalped two wickets while Mohit Sharma took one wicket.
BRIEF SCORES: Sunrisers Hyderabad 207 for 3 (Dhawan 77, Williamson 54, Warner 51) beat Kings XI Punjab 181 for 9 (Marsh 84, Kaul 3-36, Nehra 3-42) by 26 runs
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