SRH vs RR Highlights, IPL 2026 Eliminator: Sunrisers receive Royal thumping as Sooryavanshi dominates the night

SIX!!!!! And there he reaches the half-century off just 16 deliveries. What a knock!!!!! He is just smashing them to all parts of the ground.

IN THE AIR AND SIX!!!! He races to 48 off 14 balls. Is this an Eliminator??!!! Does he at all know what pressure means??!!!

RR vs SRH IPL 2026 Live Score: Sakib Hussain is introduced into the attack, and he is treated the same way. This time Sooryavanshi goes inside out over covers for a maximum.

Three in three!!!! Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is toying with one of the greatest bowlers in modern cricket. This is pure thrashing from the kid.

This is Pat Cummins. But Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is treating him like a club level bowler. WHAT A SHOT!!!! Full at the middle and leg. He lofts that over long-on for a maximum. ONE MORE!!! He follows it with one more.

FOUR!!!! Sooryavanshi takes on Cummins and gets a boundary this time. Full at the off stump. This time, Vaibhav drives it past the mid-off fielder for a boundary. He is finding the middle too often for the comfort of the Sunrisers. With that he has reached 600 runs for the season.

RR vs SRH IPL 2026 Live Score: IN THE AIR AND GONE!!!!! For SIX!!!! Short ball into the body of the batter. Sooryavanshi not at all disturbed by it. He rocks back and pulls it away over square leg for a maximum.

NOW, Jaiswal joins the party!!!! It is a boundary for him to start. The two explosive openers of the Royals have picked up rhythm early it seems. The signs are not too good for the Sunrisers.

Vaibhav launches, and the ball sails away for a maximum. He is in the groove now. It was a full delivery. The ‘Boy Wonder’ clears his front foot and smashes that over long-off.

Sooryavanshi gets a beauty to start with. He digs that out. The contest is already heating up.

RR vs SRH IPL 2026 Live Score: Pat Cummins runs in to bowl the first ball to Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. This will be an interesting battle. Let us see, how the wonderkid copes up….

So, we are all set for the action to begin. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal are walking out to start the innings for the Royals. Pat Cummins will be opening the bowling for Hyderabad.

SRH: Aniket Verma, Salil Arora, Liam Livingstone, Harsh Dubey, Harshal Patel

RR: Shubham Dubey, Sushant Mishra, Amanal Perala, Ravi Bishnoi, Tushar Deshpande

Rajasthan Royals Playing XI : Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Riyan Parag (c), Donovan Ferreira, Dasun Shanaka, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Brijesh Sharma, Yash Punja

Sunrisers Hyderabad Playing XI : Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (wk), Heinrich Klaasen, Smaran Ravichandran, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Pat Cummins (c), Shivang Kumar, Eshan Malinga, Sakib Hussain, Praful Hinge

RR vs SRH IPL 2026 Live Score: Sunrisers Hyderabad have won the toss and they will bowl first.

SRH won the last meeting between the teams by five wickets, making it 2-0 against Rajasthan in the league stage. Unlike the first game, which SRH won by 57 runs, this was tighter and went deeper into the chase.

SRH carry a clear head-to-head edge into this contest. They beat Rajasthan by 57 runs in their first meeting, a result that underlined the gap between SRH's batting ceiling and RR's chase structure. The second meeting was tighter, but SRH still got home by five wickets. So, RR are not just fighting current form here. They are trying to overturn a season pattern.

The New Chandigarh pitch should keep both batting units interested. The venue has been high-scoring in IPL 2026, with 204 being the average total with a run rate above 10.36. Pitch 4 will reportedly be used, the same strip where SRH made 219 and Punjab chased it down. That puts extra weight on Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma and the toss. Early wickets may matter tonight.

Heinrich Klaasen is the batter who makes SRH less dependent on the opening blast. He has made 606 runs at a strike rate of 159.47, but his real importance sits after the powerplay. Between overs 12 and 16, he has scored 273 runs at 172.78, the phase where innings often slow down. Against RR, that matters because Arhcer and Bishnoi can dent the top order. If SRH lose early wickets, Klaasen is the batter who can rebuild without surrendering tempo.

Jofra Archer is Rajasthan's biggest threat because SRH's top order feeds on pace coming onto the bat, but Archer can turn that pace into discomfort. He has taken 21 wickets while keeping a strong 8.77 economy, and his 44.87% dot-ball rate is the real danger. Against Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head, that new-ball pressure can force the big shot early. If Archer removes one opener inside the powerplay, SRH's whole batting rhythm changes.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Abhishek Sharma make this Eliminator a powerplay shootout. Vaibhav has smashed 583 runs at a strike rate of 232.37, with 430 runs in the powerplay alone and a boundary percentage above 41%. Abhishek is SRH's matching weapon: 563 runs at a strike rate of 206.22, including 369 powerplay runs and 43 sixes. Vaibhav has been more explosive, but Abhishek has the deeper batting shield behind him. RR need Vaibhav to win the opening burst; SRH need Abhishek to make that advantage irrelevant.

Rajasthan bowling gives them a real route into the Eliminator. Jofra Archer is the main weapon, with his pace and dot-ball pressure capable of troubling SRH's explosive top order. Brijesh Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi and Nandre Burger add wicket-taking support, while Ravindra Jadeja gives control. RR's attack has been slightly tighter than SRH's, but against Head, Abhishek, Ishan and Klaasen, they need early damage, not just containment.

SRH's bowling has been as dominant as their batting, but it has found enough wickets to protect big total. Eshan Malinga and Sakib Hussain have carried the main strike load, while Pat Cummins gives them control when the innings threatens to run away. The concern is leakage: SRH have conceded close to 10 an over, so against RR's powerplay hitters, early wickets become non-negotiable.

Rajasthan's batting threat starts with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, whole powerplay hitting can bend the match early. Yashasvi Jaiswal gives that opening burst support, while Dhruv Jurel has been their most reliable middle-overs stabiliser. Riyan Parag adds tempo through the centre, and Donovan Ferreira gives them late-overs muscle. RR's route is clear: explode early, then hope the middle order protects that advantage.

SRH's batting has worked because the damages is spread across phases. Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head attack the powerplay, forcing teams into early repair mode. Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen control the middle overs, where many innings usually slow down. Nitish Kumar Reddy gives them late-overs punch. That layered batting map is why SRH enter the Eliminator with a wider hitting base than Rajasthan.