IPL 2026: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's bravado deflates SRH, takes RR into Qualifier 2

Rajasthan Royals progressed into Qualifier 2 of the Indian Premier League 2026 (IPL 2026) with a 47-run victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Eliminator game on Wednesday, May 27, at Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur, New Chandigarh. 

After being put in to bat first, Rajasthan posted their highest ever score in IPL history of 243/8 in their overs, riding on a whirlwind innings from Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, while Dhruv Jurel (50 off 21) also scored a fiery half-century.

For SRH, Praful Hinge emerged as the pick of the bowlers with a three-wicket haul. In reply, Hyderabad were bundled out for 196 in 19.2 overs as Jofra Archer (3/58), Ravindra Jadeja (2/21, 3 overs), Sushant Mishra (2/21, 2.2 overs) and Nandre Burger (2/26, 3 overs) ran through their batting lineup. 

Courtesy of their performance, Rajasthan ended their six-match losing streak against SRH and knocked them out of the tournament. They will next take on the Gujarat Titans (GT) in Qualifier 2 on May 29 at the same venue.

Top run-scorer of the Match

Top wicket-taker of the Match

Player of the Match

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was deservedly adjudged Player of the Match for his record-breaking innings. He slammed a 16-ball half-century but missed out on scoring the fastest hundred in IPL history, being dismissed for 97 (29). The southpaw got involved in a massive 125-run opening stand off 48 balls with Yashasvi Jaiswal to give the perfect platform for Rajasthan’s batters.

Turning Point

After Jofra Archer removed Abhishek Sharma for a two-ball duck in the very first over, Ishan Kishan (33 off 11) joined Travis Head (17 off 8) at the crease. The duo wasn’t willing to slow down and began counter-attacking Rajasthan with a 51-run partnership off just 15 balls. However, Archer removed both the batters in back-to-back overs to leave SRH reeling at 57/4 after 4.4 overs. They couldn’t really recover following their dismissals.

What did the captains say:

Winning Captain, Riyan Parag (Rajasthan Royals):

I like to be a perfectionist. Today we should have got 260, right? Was impressed with the way we bowled, we came back really well. Just leave him alone, he likes batting. He goes on and does his thing. I feel it brings out more from people. When everything is on line, everyone turned up a little more. We keep on having banters. I went up to Jofra and asked him to be a little straighter. He bowls at 150 clicks, and he does his job. Rest tomorrow, we have had a great day. Need to rest and recover.

Losing Captain, Pat Cummins (Sunrisers Hyderabad):

He (Sooryavanshi) played pretty well. It was a really good pitch. It was a pretty good wicket even in the end. It was a very well rounded team. Young guns, we were one of the youngest teams to make it to the playoffs. It's great as a captain to see that. Few things need to get right while chasing 240. We lost too many wickets at the wrong time. We were one tiny bit away from been in the top two. Can't ask for anything more.