Rajasthan Royals, who had started IPL 2026 in sensational fashion by winning four of their opening four matches, were undone in a dramatic turn at home as an unexpected bowling pair—Praful Hinge and Sakib Hussain—broke apart their batting order. Neither captain Riyan Parag nor the rest of the side seemed prepared for the assault that followed, with the match swinging decisively early. Praful provided the early damage by taking three wickets in the first over, and Sakib then ensured the chase never gained traction, leading to Sunrisers Hyderabad delivering a comfortable 57-run win on their home ground.
The contest was effectively tilted by the time Rajasthan reached the third over of their chase at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, where they were reduced to 9/5. Praful etched his name into IPL history as the first bowler to claim a hat-trick of wickets in the opening over, dismissing Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for a golden duck in the process. In fact, none of the three batters who fell in that blistering spell managed to reach double figures.
ALSO READ: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi told to ‘watch out for sharks’ after bagging golden duck: ‘How much money can I make off this kid?’
Sakib struck immediately after, getting rid of Yashasvi Jaiswal in his first over, before Praful returned in the third over to remove Parag. The dismissal came via a sharp outside edge that carried straight to Abhishek Sharma at slip. From there, Rajasthan’s momentum was hard to recover, and although they tried to fight back, the foundations had already been shattered.
Rajasthan did manage a resurgence through a century partnership between Ravindra Jadeja and Donovan Ferreira, giving their chase a brief sense of direction. However, Sakib returned to disrupt the stand, taking wickets at key moments and wrapping up the outcome with an over to spare, ensuring the Royals never truly threatened the target.
In the post-match interaction, Parag acknowledged that he had limited exposure to the duo in domestic cricket. “I think I’ve not seen them a lot domestically,” he said. “But I think I played Sakib once when I played Bihar vs Assam. They bowled beautifully. I felt the pressure they created with the home crowd supporting and chanting their names. The way they bowled in the first four or five overs was really impressive.”
‘Just a blip’
Parag refused to overthink the defeat and framed the loss as a minor setback. Calling it “just a blip,” he pointed to the positives—particularly the Jadeja-Ferreira stand—after his team slumped to 9/5. “Not a lot of time to feel emotions. Credit to the way they bowled. A few miscalculations from us. The pitch was pretty good. Felt bowling second might have been better. It was sticky with the new ball, and after the shine went, it slowed down. But again, that is hindsight — we could have batted better.”
He also stressed that the chase had not collapsed entirely, noting the side’s late resistance. “Being five wickets down for nine and still getting to 160 says a lot about the depth. It is just a blip,” Parag added.
Rajasthan Royals will now turn their attention to their next IPL outing against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens on April 19.
