Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) secured a commanding 55-run victory over the defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), in their final league match of the IPL 2026 season on May 22. Despite the comprehensive nature of the win on home turf, it proved bittersweet for Pat Cummins’ men. The victory margin was simply not large enough to bridge the net run rate gap required to leapfrog Bengaluru and lock down a coveted top-two finish on the points table.
SRH fail to stop RCB from securing top 2 finish despite 55-run win
After choosing to bat first, the hosts mounted a colossal total of 255/4 in their 20 overs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. However, to actually overtake RCB in the standings, Hyderabad's bowling unit needed to restrict the visitors and secure a massive victory margin of 90 runs or more. Because they fell short of this statistical threshold, the Orange Army finished the league stage in third place, trapped in a three-way tie on 18 points alongside RCB and the Gujarat Titans, who both boasted superior net run rates.
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RCB to face GT in Qualifier 1
This third-place finish dictates a much tougher playoff route for Hyderabad, who must now feature in the high-stakes, knockout Eliminator match on Wednesday, May 27, in New Chandigarh. Meanwhile, the top two seeds have earned a safety net; Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Titans will square off in Qualifier 1 at the picturesque Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala on Tuesday, May 26.
The structural stakes of these upcoming fixtures are incredibly high for all surviving franchises. The triumphant team in Qualifier 1 will book a direct ticket to the tournament final. Conversely, the losing side from that contest will be granted a second chance at redemption, traveling to New Chandigarh to face the winner of the SRH-contested Eliminator in Qualifier 2 on Friday, May 29.
Rajat Patidar's fifty in vain
Chasing down such a colossal total was always going to be an uphill battle, despite an explosive start from Venkatesh Iyer, who hammered a rapid 44 off just 19 balls. Unfortunately for Bengaluru, the momentum faded quickly at the top of the order as Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal were dismissed cheaply for 15 and 21 runs respectively. Once the management realized that an outright victory was out of reach, the strategic focus quickly shifted toward preserving their playoff advantage and securing the required tournament positioning.
Faced with a mounting required run rate, the veteran duo of Rajat Patidar and Krunal Pandya anchored the innings with a vital 84-run partnership. Instead of chasing a reckless win, they meticulously calculated their approach to reach the "Magic Figure" of 166 runs needed to protect their net run rate. The decisive moment came when Patidar launched a delivery from Pat Cummins over deep point for a towering six, officially guaranteeing a top-two finish for the defending champions.
Patidar was eventually dismissed after scoring a composed 56 off 39 balls, but his departure only came after the team score crossed 178, the precise threshold needed to secure the absolute top spot on the league table. Credit was also due to the Hyderabad bowling attack; Eshan Malinga turned in another brilliant spell, finish with figures of 2/33 across his four overs by maintaining impeccable lengths, while young Bihar bowler Sakib Hussain kept the batsmen in check during the middle overs to finish with a tidy 1/31.
Abhishek-Ishan-Klaasen's blitzkrieg in SRH's win
Earlier, Troika of Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, and Heinrich Klaasen's fiery fifty powered SRH to a massive total of 255/4 in their 20 overs against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Hyderabad on Friday. The high-stakes final league encounter presents clear equations for both sides moving into the postseason. While the visiting RCB team faces a daunting chase of 256 runs to secure the top spot on the table with 20 points, the home side needs a comprehensive victory to drastically boost their net run rate and sneak into the top two for a Qualifier 1 spot.
After electing to bat first, SRH openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma immediately went on the offensive, targeting Orange Cap holder Bhuvneshwar Kumar in a 13-run opening over that included a towering long-off maximum from Abhishek. The young left-hander continued his upper hand against the premier swing bowler, collection consecutive boundaries to open the third over. Head attempted to mirror that aggression by crashing three boundaries off Rasikh Salam Dar in the fourth over, but the bowler got immediate redemption, cleaning up the dangerous Australian opener for 26 with a spectacular, off-stump-uprooting yorker. Despite the setback, Abhishek and incoming batsman Ishan Kishan maintained the momentum, guiding the hosts to 63/1 at the end of the powerplay.
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RCB managed to briefly dry up the runs for the next two overs, but the pressure valve exploded when Heinrich Klaasen launched a savage assault on Josh Hazlewood, plundering three sixes and a four in a massive 27-run over. This shift in momentum allowed Klaasen and Kishan to raise their 50-run partnership in just 26 deliveries as SRH breezed past the 150-run milestone. Kishan soon brought up his sixth half-century of the tournament off 31 balls, and the duo continued their relentless acceleration, looting 18 runs off a single Bhuvneshwar over to register a rapid 42-ball century stand.
The hosts crossed the 200-run mark in the 16th over as Rasikh leaked 20 runs, concluding with Klaasen raising his own 23-ball half-century. Krunal Pandya finally broke the devastating 113-run partnership in the next over, dismissing Klaasen for 51 thanks to a sharp catch from Venkatesh Iyer. However, there was no respite for the visitors as Nitish Kumar Reddy stepped in to smash Krunal for two consecutive sixes. Kishan was eventually dismissed on the final ball of the innings for a magnificent 79 off 46 balls, leaving Nitish unbeaten on 29 off 12 deliveries. It was a forgettable night for RCB's primary bowling options, with Bhuvneshwar and Hazlewood conceding 51 and 55 runs respectively without taking a wicket, while Rasikh finished as the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/52.