SRH vs RR Live Score, IPL 2026: Hyderabad bat first on a belter, RR drop Hetmyer

Sunrisers Hyderabad are going with Praful Hinge in place of Jaydev Unadkat. Sakib Hussain is likely to come in place of Harshal Patel

Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (capt & wk), Heinrich Klaasen, Salil Arora, Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harsh Dubey, Shivang Kumar, Eshan Malinga, Praful Hinge

Impact Players: R Smaran, Sakib Hussain, Liam Livingstone, Shivam Mavi, Harshal Patel

Rajasthan Royals have dropped Shimron Hetmyer for Lhuan-dre Pretorius. Tushar Deshpande also comes back in for Brijesh Sharma. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is listed among Impact subs.

Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Riyan Parag (capt), Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Sandeep Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi, Tushar Deshpande

Impact Players: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Shimron Hetmyer, Ravi Singh, Shubham Dubey, Brijesh Sharma

Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag has won the toss and opted to bowl against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Daren Ganga and Faf du Plessis say the pitch is nice and hard, helpful for batters. If it's that good, expect over 450 runs in both innings combined.

In their only home game so far, Sunrisers Hyderabad lost both openers in the first three overs. Abhishek Sharma was the first to depart in the first over. If it's a slow or two-paced surface, all batters will struggle and powerplay will become even more important. SRH need their star batter to give them a good start.

Sunrisers Hyderabad have lost two consecutive matches and are struggling with their bowling combination. That SRH have not been able to defend 200+ totals is a testament to that fact. Brydon Carse hasn't featured yet but today, he could. Will that bolster SRH's bowling attack? That remains to be seen

Sunrisers Hyderabad have also relied heavily on Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma and Heinrich Klaasen. Even Ishan Kishan has made valuable contributions. But barring Klaasen, no batter has been consistent, and that has troubled them. 

However, it’s their bowling that has let them down. With Pat Cummins yet to be fit and play, SRH have depended on Jaydev Unadkat, Harshal Patel, David Payne, and Eshan Malinga with little to no success. They lack a quality spin option and the vacuum has been too big to fill by Harsh Dubey. 

Rajasthan Royals are the only team in IPL 2026 to win all their matches so far. They have been dominant with an outstanding NRR of +2.055. Rajasthan are in such a strong position largely due to how they have batted in the powerplays. The early surge from Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal has seen RR score 74/0, 69/0, 89/2, and 97/1 in the first six overs in the last four matches. Dhruv Jurel, at No. 3, has also been in top form, scoring 176 runs in 4 matches at 181.44 strike rate. 

Add Ravi Bishnoi’s spin magic and pace attack from Jofra Archer and Nandre Burger, Rajasthan seemed to have everything under control. They are the side to watch out for under Riyan Parag’s captaincy. 

The pitch at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium is widely regarded as a batter’s paradise. It is flat, hard, and offers true bounce, allowing the ball to come nicely onto the bat. Short square boundaries and a quick outfield further aid scoring, often leading to totals above 200 being competitive (or even par). 

However, it hasn’t been the case of late. In the only match at this venue in IPL 2026, SRH struggled to post 156/9, while Lucknow Super Giants chased that down only in the last over with a ball to spare. If the same strip is used for today’s match, there will be no fireworks.

SRH hold a slight historical edge overall. In recent encounters (since 2020), SRH have dominated with a 6-4 record and have won the last four matches on the trot. The highest team total in these clashes is SRH’s 286 (IPL 2025), while RR’s best is 242. Key performers across meetings include Sanju Samson (high runs for RR in past) and explosive SRH batters.

• Total Matches: 21
• SRH Wins: 12
• RR Wins: 9
• No Result: 0