NEW DELHI, ⁠May 7 (Reuters) - Punjab Kings had hoped to tighten their grip on ⁠top spot in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Wednesday but ‌a succession of dropped catches saw them fall to a third straight defeat and allowed Sunrisers Hyderabad to climb above them.

Hyderabad batter Ishan Kishan (55) was dropped twice, while ​Heinrich Klaasen capitalised on an early reprieve to ⁠smash 69 and power the ⁠hosts to 235-4 in their 20 overs.

Punjab managed only 202 in reply, ⁠though ‌captain Shreyas Iyer said they should have been shooting for a much lower target.

"We dropped many catches at the start, ⁠we could have easily reduced their score by 30-40 ​runs," he added.

"Unfortunately, ‌we were not able to take catches, I think that was ⁠the biggest setback ​for us in today's game - definitely something to reflect on and come back stronger."

Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal created two chances only to see both spilled, bringing ⁠to eight the number of catches that ​have been grassed off his bowling this season.

Teammate Shashank Singh has dropped five catches in his last three matches.

Spin-bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule said players like ⁠Kishan and Klaasen punish teams if given a second chance.

"It was very important to take those catches because they are such players that if you tend to drop catches, they will score and score quickly," he ​told a press conference.

"I definitely think catching ⁠could have changed the momentum of the game. There would have been fresh ​batters on the pitch and we could ‌have executed our plans more effectively ​and then ended up maybe giving more than 50 runs less."

(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; editing by Peter Rutherford)