SRH chase 229 to beat RR as Ishan Kishan stars

Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Rajasthan Royals by 5 wickets with nine balls remaining in Indian Premier League Match 36, riding on a blistering 74 off 31 balls from Player of the Match Ishan Kishan. In a contest packed with power-hitting, SRH overhauled RR’s imposing 228/6 with 229/5 in 18.3 overs to continue their strong mid-season surge.

This result extends the IPL league phase rather than deciding anything outright, but it gives Sunrisers another significant win after earlier victories in Matches 6, 21, 27 and 31. Rajasthan, who had also been building momentum with wins in Matches 3, 9, 13, 16 and 32, were left to rue an extraordinary innings from Vaibhav Sooryavanshi going in vain. With Match 36 completed, the tournament now moves on to Gujarat Titans vs Chennai Super Kings and Lucknow Super Giants vs Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday, April 26.

RR pile up 228 after Sooryavanshi’s stunning hundred

Rajasthan Royals looked set for a match-winning total thanks chiefly to a remarkable assault from Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who hammered 103 from just 37 balls with five fours and 12 sixes. He transformed the innings after Yashasvi Jaiswal made 10 off 8, and his clean striking gave RR immediate control of the first half.

Dhruv Jurel then ensured the tempo never dipped, making 51 off 35 balls with eight fours and a six. The pairing of Sooryavanshi and Jurel gave Rajasthan the platform for a huge finish, even though Riyan Parag fell for 7 off 9. Donovan Ferreira added a high-impact 33 from 16 balls, striking three fours and three sixes, while Shimron Hetmyer contributed 11 off 10, Ravindra Jadeja 4 off 3 and Jofra Archer 2 off 2.

Among the Sunrisers bowlers, Pat Cummins stood out for his control with 1/27 from 4 overs in a night otherwise dominated by batters. Eshan Malinga returned 2/38 from 4 overs and Praful Hinge took 1/49, while Nitish Kumar Reddy chipped in with 1/20 from 2 overs. Sakib Hussain’s 1/62 and Shivang Kumar’s 0/31 from 2 reflected how difficult the conditions were for the attack.

Ishan, Abhishek and Nitish power SRH home

Chasing 229 required a fearless start, and Sunrisers Hyderabad delivered exactly that. Travis Head struck a six in his 6 off 5 before falling, but Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan seized the match in a breathtaking burst. Abhishek smashed 57 from 29 balls, peppering the boundary with 11 fours and a six, while Kishan was even more destructive with 74 from 31 at a strike rate of 238.7, including 11 fours and three sixes.

That surge turned the chase from ambitious to attainable. Heinrich Klaasen added 29 off 24 balls, keeping SRH steady through the middle overs, before Nitish Kumar Reddy provided the decisive finishing thrust with 36 off 18, striking two fours and three sixes. Salil Arora’s 8 off 3, including a six, helped close it out, and Aniket Verma remained on 1 off 1 as SRH reached 229/5 in 18.3 overs.

Rajasthan did enjoy brief moments of resistance. Jofra Archer produced the best figures of the innings with 2/34 from 4 overs, and Brijesh Sharma also claimed 2/44 from 4. Donovan Ferreira picked up 1/14 from his over, but the rest of the attack struggled to contain the tempo. Nandre Burger went for 50 in 3.3 overs, Tushar Deshpande conceded 43 in 3, Ravi Bishnoi 0/16 in 1 and Ravindra Jadeja 0/11 in 1 as SRH kept the required rate under pressure throughout.

Match-turning moments

The obvious headline was Sooryavanshi’s century, but the chase was shaped by how quickly SRH matched and then exceeded RR’s tempo. Abhishek Sharma’s boundary-heavy 57 ensured there was no settling period after the early wicket of Head, and Kishan’s 74 off 31 was the innings that truly broke the contest open. Once Klaasen and Nitish Kumar Reddy kept the scoring rate healthy through the middle and late phases, Rajasthan’s total no longer looked untouchable.

For SRH, this was another statement in a season already marked by high-scoring victories, and it underlined the batting depth that has made them one of the most dangerous T20 sides in the competition. For RR, there was little wrong with 228/6 on most nights, but this was one of those IPL evenings when even a score built around a 37-ball hundred was not enough.

Key performers

• Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (RR): 103 off 37 balls, 5 fours, 12 sixes
• Dhruv Jurel (RR): 51 off 35 balls
• Donovan Ferreira (RR): 33 off 16 balls
• Ishan Kishan (SRH): 74 off 31 balls, 11 fours, 3 sixes
• Abhishek Sharma (SRH): 57 off 29 balls, 11 fours, 1 six
• Nitish Kumar Reddy (SRH): 36 off 18 balls
• Pat Cummins (SRH): 1/27 from 4 overs
• Eshan Malinga (SRH): 2/38 from 4 overs
• Jofra Archer (RR): 2/34 from 4 overs
• Brijesh Sharma (RR): 2/44 from 4 overs

NerdSports Stat: Rajasthan Royals smashed 18 sixes and still lost with nine balls remaining; Sunrisers Hyderabad chased 229 despite receiving only 6 runs from Travis Head and just 29 from Heinrich Klaasen.

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