Sunrisers Hyderabad’s pace attacks trounce the Rajasthan Royals to their first defeat
SRH – 216/6 (Ishan Kishan 91 off 44) beat RR – 159 (Praful Hinge 34/4, Sakib Hussain 24/4) by 57 runs
Man of the Match: Praful Hinge
The battle between openers Travishek and Jaisoorya proved a damp squib. Still, it provided an opportunity to others to sparkle in an eventual one-sided match that Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) won against Rajasthan Royals (RR) by 57 runs in the IPL 2026 league match in Hyderabad. Ishan Kishan continued his red-hot form for the last few months to make a sparkling 91 off 44 balls, but the highlight of the night remains the performances of two debutants who were unleashed on the unsuspecting RR lineup. Praful Hinge and Sakib Hussain are not the two names that would instantly come to the mind of the casual cricket fan when they think of young Indian pace bowlers, but this performance would go a long way in changing that.
Opening struggles
The chatter before the match was all about the openers from either side, especially considering their last match performances, where the powerplay score was close to a hundred in both cases. In a tournament dominated by batsmen, world-class bowlers have reminded us that they are not just cannon fodder for the batsmen. Jofra Archer, for the second time in two matches, got a wicket on the first ball of the match. While the ball was not as spectacular as the one that got Phil Salt in the last match, the planning was spot on. Abhishek’s tendency to start hitting from the first ball meant that a short ball was sliced straight down the throat of the backward point, the fielder specifically positioned there for that shot. Travis Head looked completely out of sorts, moving much before the ball was bowled and thus struggling to get his timing right. With Ishan Kishan being the other batsman at the crease, and two left-handers in the crease, Riyan Parag made an inspired bit of captaincy and brought himself to bowl some off-spin. Four quiet balls later, he bowled a slightly shorter ball, which a desperate Head could not get to the pitch of and holed out to long on.
Ishan Kishan continues his form
Amongst the struggles of his teammates at the other end, Ishan Kishan was playing as fluently as he usually does. He took a special liking to the pacers. Anything short was hit over deep square leg or long leg region; anything fuller, he used his fast hands to whip it to deep midwicket or straight. But some of the most dazzling shots were those on the off. After hitting Deshpande to a short ball on the off over backward point for a four, he repeated the same shot, this time the ball being wider, he had to reach out and got himself off his feet, but maintained the control to send the ball racing to the same region for another four. After getting his 50 off 30 balls, he plundered a 21-run over off Deshpande. Next, Archer, who had been economical so far, was taken for 3 fours in a 17-run over. Ishan’s form meant that SRH had scored 140/2 off 13 overs, despite a slowish start from Klaasen at the other end.
The lights go off, and SRH’s lower middle order is tested
Just then, the stadium lights went off, and there was a stoppage of play. A couple of balls later, a short ball from Sandeep on the off was uncharacteristically slogged by Ishan to get a huge top edge. Both bowler and keeper went for it, and there was an almighty collision. Luckily for Sandeep, he had got to the ball just before that and held on to it for dear life. Also, fortunately, no one appeared injured. A case can be made that a break in concentration due to the pause in play may have been a bigger factor in the dismissal than the actual quality of the ball.
The situation was familiar and somewhere that SRH had been before in this IPL season: Top order giving a flying start only to see a slowdown by the middle / lower middle-order, and they just about reaching a par / below par total. Klaasen had started slowly, but was beginning to find his range, especially against Bishnoi’s fuller balls, hitting straight and big. He was eventually out to a length wide ball by Deshpande, caught at cover for a useful 40 off 26 balls. Nitish Kumar Reddy, though, did not let go of the momentum. In the 18th over, Sandeep was hit for a massive six to a shortish ball, and overcompensated by trying to bowl full and instead started bowling full tosses, which were latched on by Nitish for two more sixes. After his dismissal to Archer for a 13-ball 28, Arora took responsibility and scored a lively 24 off 13 balls.
While Burger and Archer were effective by giving only 68 runs in their combined 8 overs, Sandeep and Deshpande could not keep up the pressure, both going for more than 50 runs each in their allocated 4 overs. Deshpande’s last over encapsulated the RR bowling performance for the day: two run-out chances, one run out, one full toss for a six, one boundary, three wides, 3 brilliant yorkers, one deceptive slower ball, all for a total of 14 runs. That’s T20 summarised in an over. SRH finished with 216/6 and were unsure whether to be glad or unhappy.
SRH debutants run riot
Much has been said about the quality of the SRH attack, and at the halfway mark, the consensus was that despite scoring an above-par total, it might prove to be inadequate considering the marauding RR top order. All these opinions came to nought by the time the first over was completed by Praful Hinge. Bowling at a rapid pace, he had Sooryavanshi trying to clobber the short ball out of his sight, but done for pace, the ball flew high up for a comfortable catch by the keeper. Fourth ball of the over, Jurel was hurried by a back-of-a-length delivery and played on to his stumps. Fifth ball, Pretorius, playing his first match this season, had a poke and missed the ball. The last ball of the over was bowled full on the legs and was flicked high directly to long leg. For the first time in IPL’s history, three wickets in the first over and a debutant was at the centre of it. Next over, another debutant, Sakib Hussain, got Jaiswal out to backward point, a dismissal not very dissimilar to the one that Abhishek got out to. Hinge was not yet done, next over, he got Parag out caught by slip to a fuller ball. At this stage, a wicket looked possible almost every ball. At 9/5 in 3 overs, the match was effectively over with RR lying face down on the mat.
Jadeja and Ferriera hold fort
All that remained for RR at this point was to play for self-respect and the slipping net run rate. Jadeja, who was not given to bowl in the SRH innings, may have had something to prove too. The pacers were played with intent, and once the spinners, Shivang and Dubey, came into the attack, Ferriera started playing some attractive shots straight for a few sixes. A partnership of 118 off 72 balls was an admirable effort, and one bright spot for the RR would have been the form of these two. The top order being in such excellent form this season, the lower middle order had been woefully undercooked, and this performance would have gladdened the RR camp. But a win for RR was never realistically on the cards.
Sakib Hussain shows his skills
Being slightly slower than the other debutant Hinge, Sakib got a bit overshadowed in the initial opening burst. It was in the death overs that he started to show his impressive range of skills. Variations, including yorkers, pace on, and beautifully concealed slower ones had the batsmen guessing. Ferreira, who had been batting well so far, had no answers throughout the fifteenth over and was done by a slower one that disturbed the stumps, to an otherwise impressive 69 off 44 balls. Similarly, Archer struggled during all of the next over and tried a despairing reverse ramp to be caught at slip. Bishnoi tried to go for a big hit first ball and holed out. In between, Malinga managed to get his yorkers right in the blockhole and get a couple of wickets. Deshpande, coming in at 10, swung lustily for 3 sixes to reduce the margin of defeat to 57 runs. Those hits just about managed to prove that this pitch was, in fact, a belter on which the famed RR batting got ambushed by two debutants.
And for all the stars and glamour, this is what IPL is all about: two youngsters from humble beginnings, with stars in their eyes, making a name for themselves in one of the biggest stages in the world.