The Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) take on the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Eliminator of the 2026 Indian Premier League at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur.
The Sunrisers finished in third place on 18 points, the same as the Royal Challengers Bengaluru and the Gujarat Titans, but missed out on the top two spots due to net run rate. They beat the RCB by 55 runs in their final game of the season, but were unable to restrict them to a total which would boost the net run rate.
The Royals sealed their place in the playoffs with a dominant 30-run win over the Mumbai Indians. They finished with 16 points from their 14 games, and despite having a drop in form midway through the season, were able to sneak into the playoffs in the last minute.
Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium: Pitch Report
The Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium is one of the better batting surfaces in the tournament. In the four games played at the venue, teams have put up totals over 200 in both innings in three of the fixtures. The black soil wicket offers consistent bounce, with the ball coming onto the bat quite comfortably. Seamers get lateral movement early, but do not get consistent help through the innings. The boundaries are comparatively longer, but the fast outfield makes it easy to score runs along the ground as well.
IPL Stats and Records at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium
| Matches Played | 15 |
| Won Batting First | 07 |
| Won Batting Second | 08 |
| Highest Total | 254/7 |
| Lowest Total | 95 |
| Average score batting first | 181 |
SRH vs RR Strategies and Match-ups
The two teams have already met twice in the 2026 season. The first encounter in Hyderabad saw the Sunrisers dismantle the Royals’ four-game winning streak to start the season with a dominant 57-run win. Batting first, the Sunrisers rode on Ishan Kishan‘s 44-ball 91 to post a fighting total of 216 for 6 in their 20 overs. What followed was pure carnage as debutant Praful Hinge ran through the Royals’ batting lineup in the powerplay, picking up four wickets with the inaugural champions reeling at 9 for 5. They were never able to recover, eventually being bundled out for 159 as fellow debutant Sakib Hussain also picked up four wickets.
The Sunrisers also won the second contest, chasing down a mammoth 229 with five wickets in hand. The Royals put up a massive 228 for 6, with 15-year-old prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi scoring a 36-ball century. The Sunrisers made light work of the chase, as Kishan was once more the star of the show with a 31-ball 74, supported ably by Abhishek Sharma’s 57 and the late cameos from Heinrich Klaasen and Nitish Kumar Reddy.
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