RCB Finish Top Despite Defeat as Sunrisers Hyderabad Crush Bengaluru by 55 Runs

Sunrisers Hyderabad registered a dominant 55-run victory over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their final IPL 2026 league match. However, despite the defeat, RCB secured the top position in the points table based on net run rate.

The match was played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, where both teams had already qualified for the playoffs. Rajat Patidar returned as RCB captain after recovering from a head injury, while SRH captain Pat Cummins won the toss and opted to bat first.

Explosive Start by SRH

Sunrisers Hyderabad openers Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head once again provided a blistering start. Travis Head attacked early before getting dismissed for 26 runs.

Abhishek Sharma continued his aggressive batting and smashed a half-century in just 20 balls. He scored 56 runs off 22 deliveries, including 4 boundaries and 5 sixes.

After his dismissal, Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen took complete control of the innings and punished the RCB bowling attack with powerful hitting.

Klaasen particularly dominated Josh Hazlewood in the 13th over, smashing 27 runs in a single over with multiple sixes and boundaries.

Ishan Kishan reached his fifty in 31 balls, while Klaasen scored his sixth half-century of the season in just 23 deliveries.

Klaasen was dismissed for 51 runs off 24 balls, while Ishan Kishan played a brilliant innings of 79 runs from 46 balls, hitting 8 fours and 3 sixes.

Nitish Kumar remained unbeaten on 29 as Sunrisers Hyderabad posted a massive total of 255/4 in 20 overs.

RCB Fall Short Despite Patidar’s Fight

Chasing a huge target, RCB received a strong start from Venkatesh Iyer, who attacked aggressively and scored 44 runs from just 19 balls.

However, Virat Kohli managed only 15 runs, while Devdutt Padikkal scored 21. RCB struggled at 94/3 after nine overs.

Captain Rajat Patidar and Krunal Pandya then stitched together an important partnership to help Bengaluru reach the score needed to secure the top spot on net run rate.

Patidar played a fighting knock of 56 runs from 39 balls before getting dismissed. Krunal Pandya remained unbeaten on 41, while Tim David scored 15 not out.

RCB eventually finished at 200/4 in their 20 overs, losing the match by 55 runs.

RCB Still Finish Top

Royal Challengers Bengaluru needed to score at least 178 runs to secure the top spot in the IPL points table. By reaching 200 runs, they successfully maintained the best net run rate and finished first despite the defeat.

Sunrisers Hyderabad, meanwhile, needed a victory margin of 90 runs or more to claim the top position. Since they won by only 55 runs, they finished third in the standings.

Records and Milestones

• Sunrisers Hyderabad crossed the 250-run mark for the sixth time in IPL history, the most by any team.
• SRH’s 255/4 became their highest score of the current season.
• Abhishek Sharma, Heinrich Klaasen, and Ishan Kishan all crossed 500 runs this season, making SRH only the second team in IPL history to have three batters score 500+ runs in a single season.
• Virat Kohli became the player with the most IPL appearances, playing his 281st match and overtaking Rohit Sharma.
• Abhishek Sharma moved to second place among Indian batters with the most sixes in a single IPL season with 43 sixes, behind Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s 53 sixes in IPL 2026.