Sunrisers Hyderabad are up against Rajasthan Royals in the IPL 2026 Eliminator as two batting powerhouses collide in Mullanpur, New Chandigarh. SRH finished third after failing to defeat the Royal Challengers Bengaluru by a sufficient margin required to assure a top two finish, while RR booked their entry in the playoffs lastly after their victory over the Mumbai Indians in their last league stage outing.
Both RR and SRH boast of a strong batting arsenal with the likes of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan being the torch bearers of the modern-day T20 cricket. Eyes will also be on the middle-order and the bowling, with SRH seemingly holding an edge in the latter department.
Heinrich Klaasen has also been in stellar form this season as he has made 606 runs and became the first-ever player to cross the 600-run mark in a T20 tournament batting at No.4 or lower. For RR, Donovan Ferreira has been doing a stellar job in the death overs and has turned a few matches upside down. Both teams would want slightly more from their middle order.
SRH seemingly have the edge with the ball
SRH might be ahead with the ball, though. Eshan Malinga has had a sensational season, where he has scalped 19 wickets, while Sakib Hussain has been very impressive in his debut season. Pat Cummins and Praful Hinge have also done well with the ball.
On the contrary, RR lack support for Jofra Archer, who has done the heavy lifting with the ball with 21 wickets to his name. However, none of the other RR bowlers is in the top 15 of the purple cap race.
SRH is RR's bogey team
SRH is RR's bogey opponent as the 2008 champions have lost both of their clashes against them this season and are on a six-game losing streak against them. However, RR are undefeated at New Chandigarh, having bagged three wins in as many games.
SRH hold strong lead over RR in H2H encounters
SRH and RR have met each other 23 times in IPL, with the 2016 champions enjoying a significant 14-9 lead over the 2008 winners. The last time RR defeated the Sunrisers was in IPL 2023 in Hyderabad.
SRH vs RR H2H stats:
Matches Played: 23
SRH won: 14
RR won: 9
SRH's highest score: 286
RR's highest score 242
SRH's lowest score: 127
RR's lowest score: 102
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