11.50pm Phew, what a bonkers day of IPL cricket we've had. Two 200-plus totals chased down back-to-back, and with such authority. Catch a breather and catch up on sleep. We'll be back tomorrow with another double-header. For now, from everyone at ESPNcricinfo, bye-bye!
And now, for the post-match presentation.
And finally, the Player of the Match, Ishan Kishan: "I think as a wicket-keeper, you have to do the same job. Keep it simple. Good wicket to bat on, wanted to restrict them below 230 and we did that. Fun, leading the side of seven games, and then Pat coming back and giving us that extra bowling power. Thinking about batting and wicket-keeping more than leadership. It's just that you have to keep on watching ball, you have to play your game. I think it was pretty quick [first Jofra ball], happy to get six off it. Fortune favours the brave. I think we were pretty calm, most important thing is have a good powerplay. I was just communicating with Abhishek, well aware of what run rate was. We had a great partnership in the middle, which helped our team. [Where does calmness come from?] The skillset is always there. Good headspace is there. I was just thinking, let's watch the ball. I'll get more gaps. You always get big gaps. You keep the run-rate moving. Just bat and enjoy. [Is this the best you're batting?] No, the best is yet to come." Well, that ending was quite the statement, and why not, for Kishan the batter!
SRH captain, Pat Cummins, has the mic. And a huge smile on his face. "Really happy. Never quite sure how it'll come out first game. I pick it up better than ten years ago. [On bowlers in 2026] I guess you just work on your batting... Even if you have one or two bad overs, you can bounce back and make an impact, like Praful did. We've got a good dugout, with bowlers and young guys. They were quite calm. Could have got away from us. Really good win."
Abhishek Sharma has the Orange Cap now. Ringa-ringa-roses at the top of the run-scoring leaderboard! "Good to be on the winning side. I had my chances, lucky day for me. I wouldn't say they were 15 short, but they could have got 15-20 runs more. I mean bowler like Jofra, if they're bowling to you... I just wanted to create room just to trouble them with line and length a bit. What me and Ishan wanted to do, especially with the new ball. I feel once you chase that kind of score, the way the batters are performing... Bowling side coming after powerplay... You can feel the confidence in the team. We always knew Pat would come and lead the side. Of course, Patty came and gave that extra experience in the side. How he bowls in those crucial overs give you confidence."
Parag, the RR skipper, speaks to the broadcasters: "Dropped a few too many catches. Quality players like Abhishek, can't drop quality batters. Could have been better on the field. We've got to be clinical. Fielding plays a major part in that. We've got a day's break. Mentally refresh and come back the next day. We left 10-15 [runs] on the table. To be honest, they bowled well in the 18th and 20th. Executed their yorkers. Would've liked another 15 runs. [On Bishnoi's late introduction] There were two lefties, I thought me and Don had better chances to get wicket. Wicket was not spin-friendly, I just had to manage four overs.. Didn't really go to plan. Different venues, different games, different ways to approach it. Don't know how Chandigarh will go."
11.27pm Sooryavanshi's century has gone from the starring note of the night to a footnote in SRH's victory. A rather spotty bowling line-up past Archer and Berger disrupted their ability to defend this. Archer's two-for was a great spell, but around him fielders kept dropping vital chances and putting in slot balls. Ishan Kishan's 74 off 31 put SRH in the driver's seat, and NKR stuck around to bolster's the SRH middle-order's credentials. His knock took them right to the finish line, and that's another two points in the bag for his team.
Shaik: "We have witnessed 2 impressive performances today...One from Master Class KL Rahul and from Junior Blaster Vaibhav...But Disheartening to see both are from loosing sides..." - That's the way the game goes sometimes, Shaik!
Nine off 12 balls. Two new, rather inexperienced batters at the crease. Surely this match is as good as over? But then...
END OF OVER:18 | 7 Runs 2 Wkts | SRH: 220/5 (9 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 12.22, RRR: 4.50)
- Salil Arora1 (1b)
- Brijesh Sharma4-0-44-2
- Tushar Deshpande3-0-43-0
H Klaasen c Ravi Bishnoi b Brijesh Sharma 29 (41m 24b 3x4 1x6) SR: 120.83
dush: "8 bowlers were used. Almost the whole team."
Nithin: "16.6: 'between cow corner and deep midwicket' - I thought deep midwicket is the cow corner" - Hehe, people just call cow corner deep midwicket too. Cow corner is between long-on and deep midwicket!
K Nitish Kumar Reddy lbw b Brijesh Sharma 36 (25m 18b 2x4 3x6) SR: 200
Twenty off this over. Just 16 needed from the final three... Who'll bowl the 18th?
END OF OVER:17 | 20 Runs | SRH: 213/3 (16 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 12.52, RRR: 5.33)
- Heinrich Klaasen29 (21b)
- Nitish Kumar Reddy30 (16b)
- Tushar Deshpande3-0-43-0
- Brijesh Sharma3-0-37-0
36 runs in four overs... Immensely gettable for SRH! How RR will be ruing their finish and the pace their batters played at, alongside Sooryavanshi's rapid knock...
END OF OVER:16 | 5 Runs | SRH: 193/3 (36 runs required from 24 balls, RR: 12.06, RRR: 9.00)
- Heinrich Klaasen18 (18b)
- Nitish Kumar Reddy21 (13b)
- Brijesh Sharma3-0-37-0
- Jofra Archer4-0-34-2
ajesh Parackal: "I expect another twist at the end. "
Devansh : "I am sensing a twist is the tail here. Those extra might be costly " - A few keen noses smelling a twist in the tale...

