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Sunrisers Hyderabad are on the verge of elimination after early wickets fell in the eliminator match against Rajasthan Royals. Jofra Archer took his third wicket of the night by knocking down the stumps of Travis Head.
The Rajasthan Royals vs Sunrisers Hyderabad match largely looked like a repeat of the IPL 2026 Qualifier 1 match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Gujarat Titans. Pat Cummins opted to field first on a batting-friendly track and this decision cost Sunrisers a big loss.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi opened the Rajasthan Royals innings with a blistering 97 off just 29 balls as he missed out on a record-breaking century, which could have been the fastest in IPL history.
Chasing a mammoth target of 244 runs, Jofra Archer ended SRH’s last hopes by dismissing Travis Head.
To qualify for Qualifier 2, Sunrisers Hyderabad had to chase a mammoth target of 244 runs in the eliminator. Sunrisers have been successful in scoring many runs throughout the season, but this time it did not happen in the important knockout games of the season.
SRH’s aggressive opener Travis Head opened the innings and was slowly trying to build a strong innings, scoring a quickfire 17 runs off just 8 balls. His off stump was uprooted by Joffra Archer’s fast ball, due to which he was clean bowled.
This is Archer’s third wicket in the match as the RR speedster reaches his best wicket-taking season with the ball. Archer now has 24 wickets in this edition of the competition.
Speed is speed…!!!
– 150.4KMPH cracker by Jofra Archer. PIC.TeawITeaTeaER.Cheym/AWhy5Cnhey0l32
– Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) MAthis 27, 2026
Jofra Archer dismisses SRH top 3 in powerplay
Although Rajasthan Royals batsmen did their job with the bat, they could not rely solely on the scoreboard to win the game against Sunrisers’ very powerful batting lineup. Sunrisers have already crossed the 200-run mark nine times this season and have chased down some big scores with ease.
However, that may never have happened if SRH’s top three were back in the dugout in no time. This is what happened in this match against Rajasthan Royals. Royals star bowler Joffra Archer hit a single to the left off Abhishek Sharma on the second ball.
Ishan Kishan did some serious ball striking; However, his stay was short-lived as Archer dismissed him for 33 off just 11 balls after taking a run. Travis Head’s dismissal was his third dismissal of the night and SRH’s fourth. Archer single-handedly demolished SRH’s top order within 16 balls.
Rajasthan Royals advance to Qualifier 2 in search of a place in the finals for the third time
With eight wickets down and Sunrisers Hyderabad still needing 75 runs to win the match, Rajasthan Royals have already booked a place in IPL 2026 Qualifier 2 and will face Gujarat Titans at the same venue.
The New Chandigarh Stadium will once again be lit up on Friday when Rajasthan Royals take on Gujarat Titans. The Titans suffered a very humiliating defeat at the hands of Royal Challengers Bangalore, while the Royals registered a spectacular win over their rivals Sunrisers Hyderabad.
While Vaibhav Suryavanshi will be eyeing the Orange Cap this season, Jofra Archer will also be eyeing the Purple Cap this season, especially after his recent wicket-taking haul in the last few matches of the season.
Also read: Full list of records broken by Vaibhav Suryavanshi by scoring 97 runs in 29 balls in IPL 2026 Eliminator
