Rajasthan Royals moved into the qualifier 2 of the IPL 2026 playoffs with their 47-run triumph over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Eliminator clash between the sides at the PCA Stadium in Mullanpur on Wednesday.
RR coasted to a total of 243 riding on Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s
97 runs knock off just 27 deliveries, before Jofra Archer’s three-fer helped the former champions bundle SRH out for 196 in 19.2 overs.Sooryavanshi put the bowlers to the sword right from the offing as the teenager raced to his half-century in just 16 deliveries before continuing his onslaught.
The youngster’s whirlwind took RR to a score of 80 runs in the first six overs of the game and past the triple-digit mark in as early as the eighth over. Sooryavanshi’s innings consisted
of a dozen massive sixes and five fours as he took SRH by storm.
The opener put up a 125 runs stand before Sooryavanshi fell just three runs shy of his century, as Praful Hinge removed the southpaw. Shivang Kumar dismissed Jaiswal for a run-a-ball-29, before Dhurv Jurel and Riyan Parag took crease. The duo added a 55-run stand for the third wicket as Jurel went on to bring up his half-century in 20 balls before Hinge struck again.
Riyan Parag added 26 runs off 12 deliveries before Hinge completed his three-fer with the scalp of the opposition skipper. Eshan Malinga removed compatriot Dasun Shanaka for 5 before Donovan Ferreira was run out for 12. Jofra Archer and Nandre Burger fell cheaply as Ravindra Jadeja remained unbeaten on 12 alongside Sushant Mishra to help RR finish with a total of 243/8.
Archer stuck early to remove Abhishek Sharma for a duck as SRH’s chase got off to a shocking start. Travis Head and Ishan Kishan notched up a 51-run stand before Archer came back in to remove the latter for 33 off 11 deliveries. Smaran Ravichandran did not last long at the crease as he was scalped for a single run by Burger before Archer claimed his third victim with the wicket of Head for 17 off 8 balls.
Yash Raj Punja dismissed the dangerous Heinrich Klaasen for 18 off 10 to leave SRH reeling at 81/5 in as early as the seventh over. Nitish Kumar Reddy and Salil Arora added a 51-run partnership before Jadeja removed Reddy for 38 off 20 balls.
Sushant Mishra sent SRH captain Pat Cummins back to the hut for 1 off 2 deliveries, before Jadeja removed Salil for 35 off 21. Burger added to his tally with the wicket of Malinga for 5 off 8 while Shivang Kumar put up a fighting 27 before falling prey to Mishra as SRH were ousted from the tournament.
