The two top-four teams, the Rajasthan Royals and the Sunrisers Hyderabad, meet in a blockbuster IPL 2026 clash today. Both teams are coming off dominant wins and are meeting for the second time this season.
Jaipur is hosting its first match of IPL 2026 as Rajasthan Royals look to maintain their unbeaten record at home. Sunrisers Hyderabad have their captain Pat Cummins playing his first match of the season.
The focus will be on Abhishek Sharma and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, two big hitters who recorded golden ducks in the first leg of this fixture 12 days ago.
Also read: Will Pat Cummins play today's game in Jaipur?
IPL 2026 Match 36: RR vs SRH Live Score and Match Updates
Punjab Kings pull off impossible
Meanwhile, in the first fixture of the day, Punjab Kings beat Delhi Capitals by 6 wickets in New Delhi.
PBKS recorded the highest successful chase in IPL history, chasing down a 266-run target with 7 balls remaining.
KL Rahul's record-laden 152* off 67 led Delhi to 265 total at Arun Jaitley Stadium. But Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya and Shreyas Iyer played remarakable knocks to help PBKS chase down the mammoth target.
Sooryavanshi keeps hammering
Yashasvi Jaiswal welcomes Pat Cummins with a four on the first ball of the second over and Vaibhab Sooryavanshi smashes a six on the last ball to keep the runs flowing for the Royals.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi - 30 off 6 balls
Yashasvi Jaiswal - 6 off 6 balls
RR - 36/0 in 2 overs
RR Playing XI
One big change for Rajasthan Royals. Tushar Deshpande comes in for Shubham Dubey. Ravi Bishnoi starts from the bench.
RR XI (batting first): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Riyan Parag (c), Shimron Hetmyer, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Tushar Deshpande, Nandre Burger, Brijesh Sharma
Impact players: Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Ravi Bishnoi, Ravi Singh, Sandeep Sharma, Shubham Dubey
SRH Playing XI
Two changes for Sunrisers Hyderabad. Captain Pat Cummins returns in place of Dilshan Madushanka, and Praful Hinge replaces in-form spinner, Harsh Dubey. Travis Head to start from the bench.
SRH XI (bowling first): Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen, Salil Arora (wk), Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Pat Cummins (c), Shivang Kumar, Sakib Hussain, Praful Hinge, Eshan Malinga
Impact players: Smaran Ravichandran, Liam Livingstone, Harsh Dubey, Harshal Patel, Travis Head
Toss time
Captains Riyan Parag and Pat Cummins are out in the middle for the toss at Sawai Mansingh Stadium.
Cummins wins the toss and Sunrisers Hyderabad opt to bowl first.
Pat Cummins and Praful Hinge replace Dilshan Madushanka and Harsh Dubey for SRH. Tushar Deshpande returns to RR's playing XI.
What happened in the last game?
A lot of drama unfolded during their last meeting in Hyderabad earlier this season. Abhishek Sharma and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi registered golden ducks. SRH debutants Praful Hinge and Sakib Hussain picked up four wickets each to bowl out RR on 159, while defending 216 runs at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
Praful Hinge created history by taking three wickets in the first over, an unprecedented feat in IPL history. However, Hussain made the biggest impact with four big wickets later in the game.
Rajasthan will look to avenge the loss and snap their losing streak against Hyderabad today.
SRH Preview
Sunrisers Hyderabad had a mixed first half of the season with 4 wins and 3 defeats in seven matches. Under Ishan Kishan's leadership, the team lost three of the opening four matches, but now enters this fixture with three straight wins.
SRH defeated Delhi Capitals by 47 runs while defending 242 runs in the last match. Abhishek Sharma smashed an unbeaten 135 to take a lead in the Orange Cap race and is looking red hot for another big innings tonight.
Travis Head and Ishan Kishan have struggled with consistency, while the likes of Aniket Verma and Salil Arora are yet to make an impact. Bowling is looking balanced after Pat Cummins return, with Eshan Malinga and Harsh Dubey showing a lot of promise.
Rajasthan Royals Preview
Rajasthan Royals returned to winning ways in their last game after losing two away matches. The Royals defended 159 runs against Lucknow Super Giants to return to second in the points table. With five wins in seven games, the Royals are looking good for the playoffs.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal have struggled to show consistency after a strong start to the season. Riyan Parag's lean form in the middle is another big concern for the hosts.
However, the 2008 IPL champions have made significant improvements with the ball in the recent games. Jofra Archer and Ravi Bishnoi have been superb with 11 wickets each, and others are also contributing with the ball.
Pat Cummins returns
Sunrisers Hyderabad captain is set to play his first match of the season. The Australian pacer will take back captain's armband from Ishan Kishan and will look to start with two points today.
Pat Cummins is likely to replace Dilshan Madushanka is SRH's playing XI today.
Jaipur hosts first game of IPL 2026
Hello everyone, welcome to Sports Yaari's live coverage of today's IPL game.
Jaipur's Sawai Mansingh Stadium hosts Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad, who are placed in the top four in the points table.
Stay tuned for live scores and regular match updates here...