Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Rajasthan Royals, Eliminator: Rajasthan Royals, thanks to yet again a match-winning knock from Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad to reach Qualifier 2. The fact that Sooryavanshi was playing his first playoff game and he managed to win it single-handedly shows how he has been the most impactful player for RR in this season. They will now face the Gujarat Titans, a team against whom their 15-year-old star batter had smashed the fastest century by an Indian last year. Meanwhile, with RR winning the clash, SRH have been knocked out of the IPL 2026.
SRH vs RR: Match Summary And First Innings Performance
Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss and decided to bowl first at the Mullanpur Stadium in New Chandigarh. It was a blistering start from Vaibhav Sooryavanshi as he started the innings six sixes shy of matching Chris Gayle’s record of most sixes in a season. Not only did he get to the feat, but he also went a step further and hit 12 sixes. During his gung-ho batting, the 15-year-old scored 97 runs in 29 balls. At the time of his dismissal, the left-handed batter was one boundary away from breaking the record for the fastest century. With Vaibav at the crease, the Royals scored 125 runs from eight overs. The fact that they could only score 118 runs in the next 12 overs puts Sooryavanshi’s knock in perspective. Meanwhile, Dhruv Jurel scored a 21-ball 50 as RR set SRH a target of 244.
SRH bowlers did not know what hit them when Sooryavanshi was batting. Skipper Pat Cummins went for 64 runs in his four overs. Sakib Hussain conceded 52 runs in four and Praful Hinge gave 54 runs in his spell while picked up three wickets. Shivang Kumar and Nitish Kumar Reddy, who came into the attack after Sooryavanshi’s dismissal, gave 31 runs in their four overs while picking up a wicket each.
SRH vs RR, Eliminator: Rajasthan Royals wins by 47 runs to reach IPL 2026 Qualifier 2
Defending a massive target of 244 runs, it was a great start from the Rajasthan Royals as Jora Archer picked up a wicket with his second ball. The English pacer dismissed Abhishek Sharma for a duck. While the Sunrisers attempted to bat with positive intent, they kept losing wickets. Travis Head scored 17 off eight, Ishan Kishan 33 off 11, and Heinrich Klaasen 18 off 10. Despite their high strike rate, the lack of big scores meant that Sunrisers were out of this game pretty early. Nitish Reddy and Salil Arora put up a couple of fighting knocks down the order, but it went in vain as the Orange Army crashed out of IPL 2026 with a 47-run defeat.
Jofra Archer once again starred with the ball in his hand as he picked up three wickets. Meanwhile, Nandre Burger, Ravindra Jadeja, and Sushant Mishra picked up a couple of wickets each to bowl SRH out for 196 runs in the final over of the second innings.
SRH vs RR, IPL 2026 Playoffs: Top Scorers And Man Of The Match Award
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was the top scorer in the SRH vs RR, Eliminator. The young prodigy scored 97 runs in only 29 balls in the first innings. He smashed five fours and 12 sixes in his innings. For his blistering knock, Sooryavanshi was named the player of the match as RR defeated SRH by 47 runs to reach Qualifier 2.
Pragun is a passionate cricket follower and writer who deeply loves the game. Having completed his education with a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication, he has an experience of almost two years in diverse fields. He is known for his statistical and analytical articles. Pragun tries to bring life to his articles by adding a layer of enthusiasm from the perspective of a hardcore fan. Apart from writing cricket articles, he sometimes appears on YouTube videos on a friend’s podcast.
