2016 champions Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) crashed out of IPL 2026 as they went down tamely to Rajasthan Royals (RR) in a convincing manner, losing by 47 runs. The Orange Army had their moments, but they were not good enough as the Royals showed their class and won the key moments to qualify for the next round, i.e., Qualifier 2. RR outplayed SRH for most parts and had their teenage sensation, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, to thank for it, as he blew the Orange Army away. There were areas where SRH got wrong, and we will try to analyze them for you here.
Inability to stop the Vaibhav Sooryavanshi show dented their chances.Â
SRH won the toss and elected to bowl on a flat deck in New Chandigarh. Little did they know what was about to hit them. While Yashasvi Jaiswal was quiet and calm, it was a storm from the other end. It was the Vaibhav Sooryavanshi show. The diminutive left-hander tore apart the SRH bowling with high-quality shots to which the Orange Army had no answer. It was pure carnage from Vaibhav as no bowler was spared.
Once Vaibhav was on the attack, the bowlers just lost their lines and lengths. They kept on feeding it to him, and he was hitting ferocious sixes. He never gave the SRH team a chance. He was ruthless as he made it a point to convert this fifty into a big score. He was batting at such a rate that 120 was touched within 8 overs. 80 runs were scored in the power play. Vaibhav looked set for the fastest hundred in IPL, but he fell short on 97 off 29 balls in which he hit 12 sixes, as it took 8 overs to get rid of Vaibhav, but not before the damage was done.
SRH did not know what hit them, and though they made a comeback in the latter part of the innings, it was too little too late. RR struggled in the backend and got to 243, where 250-260 was possible from where they were, but a 244 target is a lot of runs on any surface. The scoreboard pressure was with SRH. But the bowlers will agree they bowled wrong lines and lengths under pressure and paid the price. SRH will look to come back stronger next season.
Losing 4 wickets inside the power play dented the chase
Chasing 244 for the win, SRH got off to the worst possible start as Abhishek Sharma fell for a silver duck to Jofra Archer. Thereafter, there was a counterattack from the SRH batters led by Ishan Kishan as he took on the bowling, and so did Travis Head. The duo scored rapidly and added 51 runs for the second wicket before Ishan fell for 33 off 11 balls to Archer yet again. Smaran Ravichandran came and went for just one run to Nandre Burger.
Thereafter, Travis Head fell for 17 off 8 balls, cleaned up by Archer. All these wickets fell inside the power play. Once you lose 4 wickets inside a power play chasing 244 for the win, you are asking for trouble. SRH runs were only 9 behind RR after the power play. But they had lost 4 extra wickets compared to the Royals. That was the defining factor in the match. Losing early wickets does not help, and it means SRH were playing catch-up cricket.
Heinrich Klaasen too fell post the power play as half the side was back in the hut inside 7 overs. After this, there was an effort to keep the game interesting, but to no avail. The middle order, like Nitish Kumar Reddy and Salil Arora, has talent but not the experience at this level. So, SRH going forward just needs to beef up their middle order and come back stronger, as there has been heavy dependency on the top 4 to do their job properly.
Pat Cummins’ worst day as a player and captain exposes SRH
Another important aspect to note was the rare off-day for Australia and SRH captain Pat Cummins. Cummins came onto the bowl and was literally taken to the cleaners. Cummins was constantly making changes in the field and trying different things to unsettle the batter, but it was to no avail. Vaibhav tore him apart initially as Jaiswal was a mere spectator at the other end. Vaibhav was in the mood as Pat went for plenty in his opening spell and went out of the attack.
Add to the woes, when he later came back, he was taken to the cleaners by Dhruv Jurel and the rest of the team. Cummins was wicketless and went for over 60 runs. He went for 34 in his first two overs. Further on, he gave away 30 more runs in his remaining two overs as he went for 64 in 4 overs. Once, Pat went for 64 in 4 overs; the game was as good as over. The others can only do up to the limitations. The captain needs to step up and do so if they are to do well next season. This was a rare off day for Pat Cummins and the team paid for it.
Going forward, Pat Cummins and the team will be in the drawing board looking at the positives of the season and working on the negatives as well going forward. It’s been a season of what might have been for SRH. They have had a decent season, entertained all of us to give smiles to everyone. But in the end, such is the game that one team has to lose and this was the knockout game. SRH bow out of IPL 2026 as they lost this Eliminator clash easily.
What Lies Ahead
We are halfway through the playoffs of IPL 2026. SRH with this loss crash out of the tournament while RR lives to fight for another day. We have a day’s break before action resumes on Friday night in New Chandigarh as GT will face-off against RR for a place in the summit clash. The loser of that game goes home, the winner will go to Ahmedabad to face RCB on Sunday night. Which way is it going to go? Only time will tell.
Also Read: SRH vs RR: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s Stunning Innings Knocks SRH Out Of Playoffs Race