Toss & Conditions

Pitch No. 4 in New Chandigarh is described as a high-scoring surface this season, and RR chased down 223 here against Punjab Kings about a month ago. All three IPL 2026 games on this pitch were won by teams chasing, pointing to a toss incentive to field first.

Head-to-Head

SRH have won the last three head-to-head matches against RR. In the most recent meeting, SRH won a chase with nine balls remaining after RR posted 228/6, making it a late-innings finish rather than a narrow last-ball result. Earlier in the same season, SRH beat RR by 57 runs after setting 216/6 and bowling RR out for 159. Across these three games, SRH have been the constant winner, including one successful chase of 229/5 and two wins while defending big totals.

RRRajasthan Royals 228/6

SRSunrisers Hyderabad 229/5

2026-04-25 · SRH won by 5 wickets (with 9 balls remaining)

SRSunrisers Hyderabad 216/6

RRRajasthan Royals 159/10

2026-04-13 · SRH won by 57 runs

SRSunrisers Hyderabad 286/6

RRRajasthan Royals 242/6

2025-03-23 · SRH won by 44 runs

Sunrisers Hyderabad

SRH are 9W-5L with an NRR of +0.577. They have won two of their last three, including a 55-run win over RCB and a five-wicket chase against CSK with six balls remaining. Their last defeat in this sequence was an 82-run loss to Gujarat Titans after being bowled out for 86.

SRSunrisers Hyderabad 255/4

RCRoyal Challengers Bengaluru 200/4

2026-05-22 · SRH won by 55 runs

SRSunrisers Hyderabad 181/5

CSChennai Super Kings 180/7

2026-05-18 · SRH won by 5 wickets (with 6 balls remaining)

SRSunrisers Hyderabad 86/10

GTGujarat Titans 168/5

2026-05-12 · GT won by 82 runs

Rajasthan Royals

RR are 8W-6L with an NRR of +0.280. They have won two of their last three, including a 30-run win over Mumbai Indians and a seven-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants with five balls remaining. Their loss in this run was a five-wicket defeat to Delhi Capitals with four balls remaining.

RRRajasthan Royals 205/8

MIMumbai Indians 175/9

2026-05-24 · RR won by 30 runs

RRRajasthan Royals 225/3

LSLucknow Super Giants 220/5

2026-05-19 · RR won by 7 wickets (with 5 balls remaining)

RRRajasthan Royals 193/8

DCDelhi Capitals 197/5

2026-05-17 · DC won by 5 wickets (with 4 balls remaining)

Playing XI

News & Facts

Key Stats

Verdict

All four models favour SRH, with SRH projected at 56–68% and a model average of 62%. Bookmakers also lean SRH, pricing SRH at 53% (1.78) vs RR at 47% (2.00). Key stats are split 3-3 overall, with SRH ahead on NRR, Elo, and the last-three H2H, while RR lead the economy metrics across phases. The match is likely to hinge on whether SRH extend their recent dominance over RR, or RR’s chasing-friendly New Chandigarh record holds on Pitch No. 4.

Suryavanshi’s 29-ball storm

Vaibhav Suryavanshi didn’t just set up Rajasthan Royals’ win — he detonated it. From the powerplay onwards he kept clearing the infield, and by the time he was into the 90s the contest had already tilted hard away from Sunrisers Hyderabad. RR’s 243/8 left SRH chasing a mountain, and when the home side were bowled out for 196 in 19.2 overs, the visitors had sealed a 47-run statement.

Powerplay blows it open

The match was effectively decided in the first six overs of each innings. RR raced to 80/0 in the powerplay, giving Suryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal a platform that never needed rebuilding, then cashed in with a 125-run stand. SRH’s reply was the opposite: 71/4 in the powerplay meant their chase was immediately reduced to damage control. Even with a decent 9.8 rpo through the middle overs, the required rate stayed out of reach and the finish fizzled to 27 runs in the death.

Suryavanshi, then Jadeja’s squeeze

Suryavanshi’s 98 off 29 was the innings that changed the ceiling of the game, while Dhruv Jurel’s 50 off 21 kept the tempo high even as wickets fell late. For SRH, Nitish Kumar Reddy’s 38 off 20 and a 56-run stand offered a flicker of hope, but Ravindra Jadeja’s 2/21 in three overs tightened the middle just when SRH needed a clean runway. Jofra Archer’s 3/58 was expensive, yet his strikes helped ensure SRH never got a settled set batter for long.

Why the script flipped

The pre-match lean towards SRH was built on overall form lines, recent head-to-heads and the sense they could control phases. Instead, RR’s phase strengths showed up where it mattered: they owned the new ball with the bat and forced SRH into risky shots early. Once SRH lost four in the powerplay, the chase became a sequence of short bursts rather than a sustained pursuit — exactly the scenario a 240-plus total demands you avoid.