Vice-captain Ishan Kishan played a superb innings of 74 runs to guide Sunrisers Hyderabad to a five-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in the 36th match of IPL 2026 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Saturday. SRH chased down the big target of 229 in just 18.3 overs.
Earlier, 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi scored a birilliant century, and Dhruv Jurel added a half-century to help Rajasthan Royals reach 228 for 6 in their 20 overs.
RR's misfielding cost them the match
Chasing a huge total, SRH didn’t have the best start. Travis Head got out in the first over after scoring just 6 runs, even though he had been dropped earlier by Dhruv Jurel. But the team quickly recovered. Ishan Kishan took charge and attacked the bowlers, hitting boundaries with confidence. Abhishek Sharma also played freely, finding gaps and hitting regular fours.
Abhishek got a lucky break when two catches were dropped on 4 and 30 by Shimron Hetmyer and Ravindra Jadeja, and both batters made full use of it. SRH scored 89 runs in the power play, putting RR under pressure. The two added a big partnership of 132 runs, with both players reaching their fifties quickly. Abhishek made 57 off 29 balls before getting out.
Ishan Kishan smashed 71 off 31
Kishan continued his aggressive batting and kept SRH in control. He scored 74 runs from just 31 balls before getting out. After that, Heinrich Klaasen and Nitish Kumar Reddy played sensibly and kept the chase on track. Nitish scored 36 off 18 balls, while Klaasen made 29.
In the end, Salil Arora finished the match in style with a six as SRH reached the target with nine balls left.
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Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's century goes in vain
Earlier in the match, Rajasthan Royals got off to a flying start. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was in great form and attacked from the very beginning. He hit four sixes in the first over and set the tone for the innings. Along with Yashasvi Jaiswal, he kept the scoreboard moving quickly.
Even after Jaiswal got out early, Sooryavanshi continued his attacking play. He reached his half-century in just 15 balls and kept scoring freely. He later built a strong partnership with Dhruv Jurel, who also played an important innings. Jurel scored 51 runs and helped keep the momentum going.
Sooryavanshi went on to score a brilliant 103 off just 37 balls before getting out. In the final overs, Donovan Ferreira added a quick 33 runs, helping RR finish with a strong total. Shimron Hetmyer also chipped in with a few runs.
For SRH, Eshan Malinga picked up two wickets, while Pat Cummins, Praful Hinge, Sakib Hussain and Nitish Kumar Reddy took one wicket each.
Brief Scores:
Rajasthan Royals: 228/6 in 20 overs (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 103, Dhruv Jurel 51; Pat Cummins 1/27, Eshan Malinga 2/38).
Sunrisers Hydearabad: 229 for 5 in 18.3 overs (Ishan Kishan 74, Abhishek Sharma 57; Jofra Archer 2/34, Brijesh Sharma 2/44).