Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru, 67th Match, Indian Premier League 2026 - CommentarySRH vs RCB, 67th Match, Indian Premier League 2026 - Commentary

The top three spots are sealed. #1 - Royal Challengers Bengaluru. #2 - Gujarat Titans. #3 - Sunrisers Hyderabad. All three teams are tied on 18 points, separated only by Net Run Rate. RCB will lock horns with GT in Qualifier 1. SRH, meanwhile, must take the longer route to reach the final. Three matches remain and four teams are vying for the 4th spot. One of them will be in action tomorrow. It's a must-win game for Punjab Kings to keep their playoff hopes alive. On the other hand, LSG will look to avoid the wooden spoon. That's it for today. Until next time, it's goodbye and good night from all of us down here...

Ishan Kishan (2/2): Always, from day one, even when I was leading the side, we had that in mind, we want to finish in the top two because it does give an opportunity for a team to reach the final easily. But at the same time, Pat coming in, helping us with everything, getting one of the best bowlers in our side, leadership quality is there. So it's very good to have him. And the way he is leading the side, I can't ask for more. Credit goes to everyone, to the whole team and support staff, especially for keeping us in that zone. You never doubt yourself. You never think about doing something else. You're not getting runs or when you're not getting wickets, I guess, you just keep it simple. You just bowl your best balls, you play your best shots. And, it's about enjoying in the middle because at the end of the day, pressure is always there. But if you're enjoying, you might get in the zone where you just play your best game. So that I'm sure I need to give that credit to support staff and Pat Cummins because he has always been there, who has always motivated players in the middle.

Ishan Kishan | Player of the Match (1/2): (On being awarded the Player of the Match for the third time this season) Yeah, just happy about it, taking one match at a time, not making it complicated for myself, just keeping it simple. Like I spoke earlier before the tournament, it's just about watching the ball and playing your game. (On his incredible record against RCB) I don't know, to be very honest. Like I said, I just take one match at a time, but I don't know why. But I do feel confident when I'm playing against them and I think end of the day, fortune favours the brave and I just try to do my thing and it works for me. (Do you feel that your maturity has gone up many notches?) More than maturity, it's about shot selection. So, when to play which shot, who to target. So I'm just trying to take one ball at a time, know the situation, understand the pitch and just play your shots. End of the day, you need to feel confident in the middle. And if you're feeling that way, just make sure you play those good shots.

Pat Cummins: It was pretty impressive to get to the score that we did. I thought the boys batted fantastically and it's a good bowling performance. So everyone's hitting their straps. A pretty good wicket, we knew a lot of things had to go our way. Yeah, it got close. Yeah, I think they were trying make sure they got up to that score. So we threw a few different things at them, but it's still a big win. So, good. (On the bowling unit) They've been fantastic. I've actually learned a lot off those guys as well.The way Eshan [Malinga] has bowled all season, particularly in that powerplay. He's been the form bowler of the comp, kind of with his slower balls and his mixing up different things. And of course, Sakib [Hussain] there as well. So captain's dream. (On playing the next game in New Chandigarh) It's still 5-6 days away. So yeah, we'll rest up for a couple of days, head up there. And yeah, the guys know the ground pretty well. So get up there. I think we'll know who we're playing in the next day or two.

SRH while defending 220+ targets
Mats: 12
Won - 12
Lost - 0

Fewest balls to reach 100 sixes in IPL
657 - Andre Russell
884 - Nicholas Pooran
933 - Rajat Patidar*
943 - Chris Gayle
950 - Sunil Narine
992 - Shivam Dube

Scoring 200+ most times in an IPL season
9 - SRH in 2026
8 - GT in 2025
8 - PBKS in 2025
8 - PBKS in 2026
8 - RCB in 2026*

SRH pacers today (by variations)
Slower ones: 1/59 off 47 balls, ER: 7.53
Other deliveries: 2/95 off 55 balls, ER: 10.37
– RCB pacers only bowled 20 slower balls and conceded 43 runs.

- The 55-run win is SRH’s second-highest against RCB in terms of runs after their 118-run victory at the same venue in 2019.

- 12 of the last 15 teams to win Qualifier 1 have gone on to lift the IPL trophy.

Sakib Hussain: (What was your game plan for today?) The plan was exactly what Varun (Aaron) bhai told us - understand the wicket and bowl according to the planning. I was just doing what was discussed. (So what did you feel about the pitch? Why did this plan work on this surface?) Because the ball was gripping a bit. So mostly I relied on my slower balls because they were holding on the surface, and that worked. (You must have really enjoyed getting Virat Kohli’s wicket) I did enjoy it, is a dream wicket for me. (Was it a team plan to take pace off?) Yes. Varun bhai has told us that the slower balls were gripping, so it be better to stick to it. (Batters are picking your slower ball late?) Right now, my focus is only on improving more and more. The more I improve, the better it will be for the team. (You are in the playoffs, great opportunity to win the title!) Yes, absolutely. We will give our hundred percent and hopefully do very well.

Rajat Patidar: (Too many runs on the board?) Obviously, I think their top five batsmen played really well, and they purely dominated in the first innings. (Pitch slowed down?) Not really, but I think the slow bouncer was gripping a bit, but I think the way... their strength is slow bouncers and yorkers, they executed pretty well. (Top priority to finish on top?) The top priority was to be on the top, but I think, there were a lot of runs in the first inning. I think 255 is a good score on this wicket. And I think their five bowlers executed the slow bouncers and yorkers pretty well. (Wasn't easy to hit the slow bouncers?) Obviously, Hyderabad, I think it's a good wicket, but when you start bowling slow bouncers, slow into the wicket, I think it's really tough for the batsman to score the runs.

23:29 Local Time, 17:59 GMT: A big win for SRH but not big enough for them to finish in the top-two. "I think it's a long shot getting in the top two, but we'll give it a good crack tonight," said Pat Cummins after opting to bat. They posted a massive score of 255 on the explosive back of fifties from Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen. In reply, RCB got off to a flier, thanks to Venkatesh Iyer and they even outscored SRH in the powerplay. But they lost both the openers inside the powerplay. RCB needed to score 166 to make it to the top-two. After DDP's downfall, Rajat Patidar and Krunal Pandya forged an 84-run stand for the fourth wicket. The RCB captain, back in the XI, brought up a fifty but it was conservative knock by his standards. SRH used the slower balls to good effect and didn't allow the RCB batters to dominate the proceedings.