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Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are the teams qualified for the play-offs. But still, neither team showed any intention of sacrificing their hard-earned momentum.
Pat Cummins’s team climbed the run mountain through their collective batting effort in the first innings on their home ground. RCB, batting second, got their innings off to a good start through Venkatesh Iyer, who came in as an opener tonight in place of the injured Jacob Bethel.
SRH mostly dominated RCB
RCB tried, but SRH’s bowling line-up was as good as their batting. From the beginning of the innings, the SRH batsmen would have vowed to destroy the entire bowling lineup.
Bengaluru’s top bowler in IPL 2026, Bhuvneshwar Kumar had a very bad day, giving away 51 runs in 4 overs without taking any wicket. Josh Hedgewood became the most expensive bowler for them with an economy rate of 55 runs in 4 overs. Rasikh Salaam, who claimed two runs, also scored at an economy rate of 13.00, indicating how dominant Pat Cummins’s team was in the first innings.
Ishan Kishan and other Sunrisers batsmen were brilliant
The top run-scorers for Sunrisers at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad were Ishan Kishan (79 off 46), Abhishek Sharma (56 off 22) and Heinrich Klaasen (51 off 24). Overall, Hyderabad scored 255 runs at the loss of only 4 wickets. The total of 255 proved to be more than enough to defeat RCB tonight.
To chase the mammoth target of over 250, RCB needed to bat with true intent. Apart from Venkatesh Iyer’s explosive 44 off 19 balls, none of the Bengaluru batsmen could match the aggression required during the chase. Krunal Pandya and captain Rajat Patidar built a long partnership in the middle, but it was not enough to compete with Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Ishan Malinga was the most effective bowler against Royal Challengers Bangalore, taking 2 wickets for 33 runs in 4 overs. RCB managed to score 200 runs for 4 wickets in 20 overs and Pat Cummins’s team won by a huge margin of 55 runs.
Pat Cummins praised both the batsman and the bowler
In the presentation ceremony, Sunrisers captain Pat Cummins praised his batsmen and bowlers. The Australian fast bowler claimed that it was a pleasure to watch the way Ishan Malinga and Saqib Hussain bowled tonight as the captain of the team.
Pat Cummins said, “The score we made was quite impressive. I thought the boys batted brilliantly and it was a good bowling performance. So everyone is getting into their rhythm. A very good wicket, we knew a lot of things were going to go our way. Yes, it came close. Yes, I think they were trying to make sure they got to that score.
“So we threw a few different things at them, but it’s still a big win. So, good. (On the bowling unit) they’ve been brilliant. I’ve really learned a lot from those guys too. The way Ishan has bowled all season, especially in that powerplay. He’s been the form bowler of the comp, with his slower balls and a mix of different things. And of course, Saqib is there too.”
“So the captain’s dream. (Playing the next game in New Chandigarh) is still 5-6 days away. So yes, we will rest for a few days, go there. And yes, the guys know the ground very well. So go there. I think in the next day or two we will know who we are playing against.” Pat Cummins said after the match.
Read More: Ishan Malinga bids farewell to Venkatesh Iyer in SRH vs RCB match

