Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore faced each other on May 22 in IPL 2026 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad. It was a high scoring match with a lot of impact on the top 2 race.
SRH captain Pat Cummins won the toss and chose to bat first. The decision worked well as SRH put up a massive score of 255 runs.
Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head gave a fast start. Abhishek scored 52 runs in quick time, while Travis made 26 before getting out after a quick start.
In the middle order, Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen changed the game completely. Klaasen played a fast knock of 51 runs in 24 balls, and Ishan Kishan scored 79 runs. Their partnership of 113 runs put RCB under pressure.
Nitish Kumar Reddy also added 29 runs in just 12 balls, helping SRH reach a very big total. RCB bowlers had a tough day, with most of them going at high economy rates.
RCB started the chase strongly but could not keep the momentum. Venkatesh Iyer played a quick knock of 44 runs from 17 balls, giving them hope early. But after his wicket, the innings slowed down.
Virat Kohli scored 15 runs, and Devdutt Padikkal made 21 runs. Wickets kept falling at regular intervals.
Rajat Patidar played a steady innings of 56 runs from 39 balls and tried to control the chase.
Krunal Pandya supported him with 41 runs, but the required rate kept going up. RCB eventually finished at 200 runs.
Even though SRH won the match, they did not get the result they needed for net run rate.
To secure a top 2 spot, they needed to win by a very big margin of around 91 runs. That was not possible, so SRH will now play the Eliminator. RCB will face Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 1.
This is not the kind of chase expected from RCB in such an important match. They did not go fully aggressive and looked more focused on playing safe after a point.
They are already in Qualifier 1, but this kind of slow approach is not ideal for a top team in a big chase like 256.
Rajat Patidar’s controlled innings helped them avoid a bigger collapse, but overall the chase lacked intent in the middle overs.
RCB now move into Qualifier 1 against Gujarat Titans in Dharamshala. But they need to fix this approach quickly. In big matches, especially playoffs, playing too safe can cost them.
They have strong batting, but they need clearer intent and faster decision making in pressure chases. Otherwise, it will be difficult against strong teams like GT.
