Rajasthan Royals Defeat Hyderabad to Enter IPL 2026 Second Qualifier

Rajasthan Royals secured their spot in the second qualifier of IPL 2026 by defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad by 47 runs in the eliminator match held on Wednesday. Vaibhav Suryawanshi of Rajasthan scored a blistering 97 runs off 29 balls, smashing a record 65 sixes this season and breaking Chris Gayle’s record for the most sixes in a single season. Rajasthan will now face Gujarat Titans for a place in the final, while Hyderabad has been eliminated from the tournament. (May 26, Kathmandu)

Rajasthan Royals cemented their position in IPL 2026’s second qualifier by triumphing over Sunrisers Hyderabad by 47 runs in Wednesday’s eliminator game. Chasing a challenging target of 244 runs set by Rajasthan, Hyderabad was bowled out for 196 in 19.2 overs. Nitish Reddy top-scored for Hyderabad with 38 runs, while Salil Arora and Ishan Kishan contributed 35 and 33 runs respectively.

For Rajasthan, Jofra Archer took 3 wickets. Nandre Burger, Sushant Mishra, and Ravindra Jadeja claimed 2 wickets each, and Yash Raj Punja took 1 wicket. Rajasthan, batting first despite losing the toss, scored 243 runs for 8 wickets in their allotted 20 overs. Vaibhav Suryawanshi played aggressively, scoring 97 runs off just 29 balls, including 12 sixes and 5 fours, breaking Chris Gayle’s record for the highest number of sixes hit in a single IPL season which stood since 2012.

Following Suryawanshi, Dhruv Jurel also played an attacking innings, scoring 50 runs off 21 balls before getting out. Yashasvi Jaiswal added 29 runs, and captain Riyan Parag contributed 26 runs. Hyderabad’s Prafull Hinge took 3 wickets, while Ishan Malinga, Shivang Kumar, and Nitish Reddy took one wicket each. Rajasthan Royals will now compete against Gujarat Titans for a place in the final, while Sunrisers Hyderabad have been knocked out of the tournament.