With a resounding 53-run victory over Rajasthan Royals, who topped the IPL 2026 rankings, at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Monday, Sunrisers Hyderabad concluded their winning streak, and rookie pacers Praful Hinge and Sakib Hussain made their presence known on the big stage by jointly claiming eight wickets.

Nagpur-based Hinge became the first bowler in IPL history to take three wickets in the opening over in a script that read more like a fairytale.

With a score of 4-34, he ended up breaking the back of RR’s formidable top order. Hailing from Gopalganj, Bihar, Hussain remained calm and picked with 4-24 to provide the clinical conclusion.

A 118-run partnership between Donovan Ferreira (69) and Ravindra Jadeja (45) — the second-highest stand for the sixth wicket or lower in the IPL — rescued RR, who were at 9/5, from being bowled out for a low score, as they ultimately fell at 159 in 19 overs.

The gamble of blooding two debutants in place of seasoned campaigners Jaydev Unadkat and Harshal Patel turned out to be a stroke of genius for SRH. With their campaign now firmly back on track, the win moves SRH up to fourth place in the points standings and represents their second victory in five games.

On the very first delivery of his spell, Hinge accomplished what the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Josh Hazlewood had failed to do this season: get Vaibhav Sooryavanshi out for a low price. On seeing the short ball, Sooryavanshi’s eyes lit up, and he attempted a huge pull, but the top edge was caught by keeper Salil Arora, much to the delight of Hinge and SRH.

Hinge’s stunning streak began when Dhruv Jurel chopped onto his stumps before Lhuan-dre Pretorius flicked directly to long leg. With his incredible dream start, Hinge became the first bowler in IPL history to take three wickets in the first over.

After being cruelly thrashed through mid-wicket, RR’s nightmare persisted when Hinge fired skipper Riyan Parag just one ball later. He seduced Parag into chasing a beautiful outswinger, which the RR captain narrowly avoided letting slip.

While Yashasvi Jaiswal upper-cut a short ball with extra bounce to deep backward point, giving fellow debutant pacer Sakib Hossain his first IPL victim from the other end, as RR lost five wickets even before the third over was finished.

Knowing the game’s outcome, Ravindra Jadeja and Donovan Ferreira worked to stabilize RR’s ship in order to prevent a significant drop in the net run rate. Since the couple drove RR beyond 49, they were able to escape the shame of having the IPL’s lowest score.

With Ferreira being lightning fast to pounce on anything loose from spinners Shivang Kumar and Harsh Dubey and send them over the boundary ropes, the pair brought up the fifty of their stand off 35 balls, which brought up his first IPL half-century off just 31 deliveries.

However, the 118-run partnership came to an end when Jadeja was caught behind off Eshan Malinga and Sakib bowled Ferreira with a slower delivery.

Sakib had even more pleasure when he struck out Jofra Archer and Ravi Bishnoi with consecutive slower balls, and Malinga had Tushar Deshpande holing out to extra cover to complete a resounding victory for SRH.

Brief Scores:
Sunrisers Hyderabad 216/6 in 20 overs (Ishan Kishan 91, Heinrich Klaasen 40; Jofra Archer 2-37, Riyan Parag 1-5)
Rajasthan Royals 159 in 19 overs (Donovan Ferreira 69, Ravindra Jadeja 45; Sakib Hussain 4-24, Praful Hinge 4-34)