Sunrisers Hyderabad pulled off a stunning chase to beat Rajasthan Royals by five wickets on Saturday, exposing RR’s fielding frailties in IPL 2026 Match 36. Captain Riyan Parag owned up to the mistakes that turned the tide.
Batting first, RR racked up 228/6, with young gun Vaibhav Suryavanshi stealing the show via a maiden IPL ton—103 off 37 deliveries. Dhruv Jurel chipped in with 51, setting a challenging target. But SRH’s batters rose to the occasion.
Ishan Kishan (74 off 31) and Abhishek Sharma (57 off 29) laid the foundation, while Nitish Reddy’s explosive 36 off 18 and Klaasen’s 29 ensured victory. Parag lamented, ‘Dropping catches, especially Abhishek’s, proved costly. We need to be sharper in the field.’
He praised SRH’s death bowling: ‘Their yorkers in 18th and 19th overs were spot on; we wanted 10-15 more runs.’ Despite spin-unfriendly conditions, Parag stuck to his pace plan with himself and Ferreira.
This loss is RR’s third this season, contrasting SRH’s fifth win. Parag vowed a strong comeback, emphasizing mental reset as RR eyes playoffs.
