RR advance into Qualifier 2 with 47-run win over SRH

Rajasthan Royals (RR) advanced into the Qualifier 2 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, beating Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 47 runs at Mullanpur, New Chandigarh. This means that RR will now lock horns against the Gujarat Titans (GT) for a place in the summit clash in Qualifier 2. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s heroics with the bat, coupled with Jofra Archer’s bowling brilliance, with the ball helped RR script a win.

When SRH came out to chase 244, the intent was visible from the start. They were maintaining the tempo of the innings around the required rate but were losing wickets. SRH were at 81/5 from 6.5 overs.

Nitish Kumar Reddy (38) then formed a 56-run partnership from 24 deliveries for the sixth wicket to ignite some hope for SRH. However, his dismissal triggered another collapse, and they were bundled out on 196. Jofra Archer was the pick of the bowlers, taking three wickets for RR.

Earlier in the match, RR were put into bat first by SRH after winning the toss and it was a Vaibhav Sooryavanshi show in the middle. The left-handed batter went all guns blazing and started attacking bowlers right from the start. During his extraordinary display of hitting, Sooryavanshi broke Chris Gayle’s record of hitting the most sixes in an IPL season. He scored 97 runs from just 29 deliveries at a whopping strike rate of 334.48, laced with a total of 12 sixes.

Dhruv Jurel was another major contributor in the innings with his knock of 50 runs from just 21 deliveries. The team posted a mammoth total of 243/8 thanks to Sooryavanshi’s knock and broke several records on their way. Sooryavanshi even had an opportunity to smash the fastest hundred in IPL history, but his stay at the crease was cut short by Praful Hinge, who was the pick of the bowlers for SRH with three wickets. (ETV Bharrat)