Rajasthan Royals’ innings against Sunrisers Hyderabad was shaped by an extraordinary spell from Praful Hinge and a rapid collapse that set multiple IPL benchmarks. Hinge struck early, then combined with fellow SRH pacers to ensure RR’s batting never gained momentum, while later SRH’s chase and match control were underpinned by a contrasting partnership recovery on the other side of the innings.
Key takeaways
- Three RR wickets fell inside the first over, all credited to Praful Hinge—an IPL first for a three-wicket burst in the opening over of a men’s innings.
- Hinge completed a four-wicket haul within the first three overs of an IPL innings, surpassing an earlier rapid mark set by Ishant Sharma.
- Hinge became the first bowler to take a hat-trick in his maiden IPL over, with RR’s top-order struggling to resist the early pressure.
- Sunrisers Hyderabad needed just 18 balls to dismiss RR’s first five wickets, and RR lost their opening four in only 10 deliveries—records in IPL history.
- SRH pacers accounted for every wicket in RR’s innings, the seventh time this has occurred in an IPL innings.
Hinge’s historic burst and early milestones
Hinge opened the bowling impact by taking three wickets in RR’s very first over. It marked the first occasion in IPL history where three wickets have fallen in the first over of an innings. In the wider context of men’s T20 cricket, there have been 19 previous instances where three or more wickets were lost in the opening over.
He then extended his dominance by removing a fourth batter in the third over, becoming the first bowler to reach a four-wicket haul within the first three overs of an IPL innings. The previous quickest four-wicket effort belonged to Ishant Sharma, who took four wickets in 3.1 overs during Kochi Tuskers Kerala’s (KTK) innings in 2011.
Hinge also reached a personal debut milestone: he became the first bowler to claim three wickets in his maiden IPL over. Dillon du Preez and Amit Singh had previously taken two wickets each in their first over during IPL debuts in 2009, and Sachin Baby had also managed two wickets in his initial IPL over.
More debut and innings records: Sakib, RR’s top order, and SRH’s pace dominance
Before this match, Ashwani Kumar held the only Indian mark for a four-wicket haul on IPL debut. Ashwani achieved 4 for the opposition for Mumbai Indians (MI) against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in 2025. In the same context, Sakib Hussain finished with 4 for 24, matching Ashwani’s tally, while Hinge recorded 4 for 34. Overall, six bowlers had previously taken four or more wickets on their IPL debut.
Sakib and Hinge together formed only the fourth pair to produce four-wicket hauls in a single IPL innings. They also became just the second Indian duo to take four wickets each in the same IPL innings—after Mohammed Shami and Mohit Sharma for Gujarat Titans (GT) against MI in 2023.
With the bat, RR’s top four managed only a single run in total—the lowest such combined output by a team’s top four in an IPL innings. Yashasvi Jaiswal contributed that lone run, while Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel, and Lhuan-dre Pretorius were dismissed for ducks.
The early damage became even more pronounced for RR once SRH took control: Sunrisers Hyderabad required 18 balls to take the first five RR wickets, the fewest deliveries any team has needed to lose its first five wickets in an IPL innings. RR’s first four wickets also fell in 10 balls, which stands as an IPL record. The previous earliest benchmarks were 11 balls for the first four wickets and 19 balls for the first five, both from KTK’s innings against Deccan Chargers in 2011.
In the RR innings, SRH pacers claimed all ten wickets that fell. This was only the seventh time in IPL history that every wicket in an innings has been taken by pacers. It was also the first such instance since 2019, when Delhi Capitals (DC) did it against SRH in Hyderabad.
SRH team context and the sixth-wicket stand
There were 199 T20 wickets collectively among the players in the SRH squad who were fielding on Monday—the lowest such figure for any team heading into an IPL match since the start of 2015. Of those, 55 were attributed to Abhishek Sharma, while 22 belonged to Travis Head.
Off the back of a recovery, Donovan Ferreira and Ravindra Jadeja put on 118 partnership runs for the sixth wicket. That total is the second-highest stand for the sixth wicket (or lower) in the IPL, behind the unbeaten 122 between Kieron Pollard and Ambati Rayudu against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in 2012.
RR, meanwhile, posted a late surge despite the collapse: after losing five wickets for nine runs, they added 150 more to reach their final total. That 150-run recovery after the fifth wicket is the second-highest figure in an IPL innings for the sixth and lower wickets.
