RR wins IPL 2026 eliminator match: Clinical RR seal Qualifier two clash with GT, beat SRH by 47 runs in IPL Eliminator
With this loss, SRH was eliminated from the tournament while Rajasthan Royals will face Gujarat Titans in the second qualifier on Friday for a place in the final against defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). After GT were brought in to bat first by SRH, RR cruised to 243/8 in 20 overs as Sooryavanshi (97 in 29 balls, five fours and 12 sixes) and Dhruv Jurel (50 in 21 balls, five fours and three sixes) played superb innings. During the chase, SRH fell to 57/4 in the powerplay despite Ishan Kishan’s brief counter-attack (33 from 11 balls, with three fours and three sixes). Archer (3/58) and Burger (2/26) were central to RR’s success with the ball as they bowled out SRH for just 196 in 19.2 overs.
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Highlights of RR and SRH Eliminator Match
Chasing 244, Jofra Archer batted for RR in the second ball and earned Abhishek Sharma a golden duck. SRH was 0/1 in 0.2 overs. Ishan Kishan ended the counter attack by hitting two fours and a six off Archer.
Travis also took four and six from Nandre Burger and Kishan once again beat Archer for six and two fours to start the third quarter afresh. But Archer struck again, breaking the 50-run stand to remove Kishan with an 11-ball 33, including three fours and a six apiece. SRH was 51/2 in 2.5 overs.
The Burger-Archer duo continued to cause trouble for SRH by dismissing Smaran Ravichandran for just one. SRH were 52/3 in 3.3 overs. Archer continued to cheer as he headed his header to an eight-ball 17 in the fifth over as SRH collapsed to 57/4 in 4.4 overs.
SRH were 71/4 after six overs, while Heinrich Klaasen (11*) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (3*) remained unbeaten.
Heinrich and Nitish tried to form a partnership but Yash Raj Punja stopped Klaasen with a sensational lbw dismissal in just 18 off 10 balls. Half of the SRH side were trailing by 83 runs in 6.5 overs.
Nitish Kumar Reddy continued the fight, picking up two fours against Sushant Mishra in the eighth over and two fours and a six against Yash Raj in the next over, pushing SRH’s score to 100 runs in 8.3 overs.
Salil Arora at the other end also hit Brijesh Sharma for two fours and a six in the 10th over to reach a 50-run stand in 18 balls. SRH stood at 132/5 after 10 overs, while Nitish Kumar (35*) and Salil (20*) remained unbeaten.
The 56-run stand was brought to an end by Ravindra Jadeja, who had Nitish caught at mid-wicket by Dasun Shanaka with three fours and two sixes in his 20-ball 38. SRH was 137/6 in 10.5 overs. In the next over, Sushant took Pat Cummins for one off two balls and reduced SRH to 139/7 in 11.1 overs.
SRH reached the 150-run mark in 13.2 overs. Another partnership was cut short by Jadeja for 24 runs, who removed Salil for a 21-ball 35 with two fours and two sixes. SRH was 163/8 in 14.4 overs.
Shivang Kumar and Eshan Malinga took the chase forward with Shivang playing some nice shots. But Burger took his second wicket and removed Eshan for just five minutes. SRH was 187/9 in 17.3 overs.
Sushant Mishra took the last wicket for SRH, taking Shivang Kumar to 27 with a superb catch from Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. SRH were all out for 196 in 19.2 overs.
Archer (3/58) and Burger (2/26) did wonders with the ball. Sushant Mishra and Jadeja also took two wickets.
RR Wins IPL 2026 Eliminator Match
Earlier, Rajasthan Royals (RR) opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi delivered a breathtaking masterclass with a sensational 29-ball 97 that took RR to a total of 243/8.
The 15-year-old set the pace early with his fearless strokeplay and explosive batting, scoring a quick half-century and keeping the innings at a blistering pace throughout his time in the field.
Asked to bat first, Rajasthan got off to a flying start. In the third over, Sooryavanshi hit a hat-trick of sixes, taking 23 runs off SRH captain Pat Cummins to take RR to 45/0.
RR reached the 50-run mark in 3.2 overs thanks to a Sooryavanshi six against Sakib Hussain. He continued his explosive innings in the next over and produced a blistering half-century off just 16 balls as Sakib fell behind for three sixes as Rajasthan raced to 63/0.
This momentum carried over to the rest of the power play; Royals finished with a commanding score of 80/0 after six overs with Sooryavanshi (60*) and Jaiswal (19*) remaining unbeaten.
During his stunning strike, Sooryavanshi also broke the record for most sixes in an IPL season, surpassing the previous mark of 59 held by Chris Gayle.
Sooryavanshi made a complete meal of Praful Hinge and smashed him with three sixes and two fours. On the last ball of the eighth over, Hinge took the big wicket of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who fell just three runs short of the fastest century in IPL history. RR were 125/1 in eight overs and reached the 100-run mark in 7.2 overs.
The Royals opener had smashed a sensational 29-ball 97 with five fours and 12 huge sixes before being dismissed.
Sooryavanshi’s explosive knock had already put the Royals in a commanding position and helped them race to 136/1 halfway through the innings.
In the second over of the 11th over, spinner Shivang Kumar dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal, who ran off 29 balls, including four boundaries. RR was 137/2 in 10.2 overs. Despite the wicket, the Royals crossed the 150-run mark in the last innings, thanks to two sixes from newcomer Dhruv Jurel.
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In the next over, wicketkeeper-batsman Dhruv Jurel, bowled by SRH skipper Pat Cummins, took control by smashing 17 runs, including two fours and a six, as RR improved to 168/2. Jurel then made a quick half-century off just 20 balls in the fourth over of the 14th over.
But he fell just after reaching the milestone and Praful Hinge struck the next ball. Jurel departed for a 21-ball 50, including five fours and three sixes. RR was 192/3 in 13.5 overs.
Rajasthan continued their aggressive attack, breaching the 200-run mark and reaching 207/3 after 15 overs.
Hinge struck again in the second ball of the 16th over, removing skipper Riyan Parag, who made a quick 12-ball 26 with two fours and two sixes as RR moved to 214/4.
Towards the end, Rajasthan lost wickets in clusters. Royals, Donovan Ferreira (12), Dasun Shanaka (5), Jofra Archer (4), Nandre Burger (1) and Ravindra Jadeja (12*) posted 243/8 in 20 overs.
Quick Scores: RR: 243/8 (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 97, Dhruv Jurel 50, Praful Hinge 3/54) bowled SRH: 196 (Salil Arora 35, Ishan Kishan 33, Jofra Archer 3/58) in 19.2 overs.
For Hyderabad, Praful (3/54) took a three-wicket haul. Eshan Malinga (1/40), Shivang (1/19) and Nitish Reddy (1/12) were also among the wicket-takers.
With inputs from ANI
