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Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) defeated Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) by 55 runs in their last league-stage match of IPL 2026, and Ishan Kishan played a match-winning knock in that.
Kishan was named Player of the Match for his 79-run knock off 46 balls with the help of eight fours and three sixes. His quick knock helped SRH post 255/4. After receiving his POTM award, Kishan said, "Just happy about it, taking one game at a time. I do feel confident when I am playing against them (RCB). More than maturity, it's about shot selection. You need to feel confident. From day one, we had that in mind, to finish in the top-two. Pat coming in, one of the best bowlers, it's very good to have him. Credit goes to everyone for keeping us in the zone. you just keep it simple, it's about enjoying in the middle. I need to give the credit to the support staff and Pat Cummins." Chasing a big target of 256 runs, Venkatesh Iyer gave a fine start to the RCB innings with 44 off just 19 balls. Rajat Patidar scored a half-century, whereas Krunal Pandya contributed with an unbeaten 41 off 31 balls but couldn't take their side past the winning line. Eshan Malinga took a couple of wickets, whereas Travis Head and Sakib Hussain grabbed one wicket each. The 21-year-old Hussain picked the wicket of Virat Kohli and called that his 'dream wicket'. "My plan was to understand the wicket and bowl accordingly. It is my dream wicket (smiles). We planned to bowl slower balls. I just try to improve as much as I can. We will give our 100% and hopefully we will do well," said Hussain after the match. Earlier, SRH opted to bat first in the game and posted 255/4 with the help of half-centuries from Abhishek Sharma (56 off 22 balls), Heinrich Klaasen (51 off 24 balls) and Ishan Kishan (79 off 46 balls). Travis Head and Nitish Kumar Reddy also contributed well with the bat and helped their side post a competitive total. Rasikh Salam Dar took a couple of wickets for RCB, whereas Suyash Sharma and Krunal Pandya took one wicket each. Despite this loss, RCB finish at the top of the table with nine wins and five losses, with 18 points. They have sealed the Qualifier One clash with the Gujarat Titans (GT), who are also placed second with 18 points. SRH also finished at third with the same points, with nine wins and five losses and will be playing the eliminator. (ANI)
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