Xplorich
NEW DELHI: Abhishek Sharma, Heinrich Klaasen and Ishan Kishan have been the driving force behind Sunrisers Hyderabad’s impressive IPL 2026 campaign. The trio has piled on runs consistently while showcasing SRH’s trademark fearless brand of batting throughout the tournament.During SRH’s IPL 2026 clash against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, the Hyderabad-based franchise achieved a massive milestone. Abhishek, Klaasen and Kishan became only the second batting trio in IPL history from the same team to score 500-plus runs each in a single season.The SRH trio joined the elite list after Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler achieved the feat for Gujarat Titans in IPL 2025.Klaasen has been SRH’s leading run-scorer this season, amassing more than 550 runs at an average above 50.Explosive opener Abhishek has also crossed the 550-run mark in IPL 2026, scoring at a staggering strike rate of over 200.Kishan, who captained SRH during the early phase of the tournament before regular skipper Pat Cummins resumed leadership duties, has also gone past 500 runs this season.Already through to the playoffs, Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss and opted to bat first against RCB.RCB welcomed back captain Rajat Patidar, who replaced the injured Jacob Bethell in the only change to the playing XI, while SRH retained the same combination from their previous match.SRH skipper Cummins admitted that finishing in the top two remained a long shot, but said the team wanted to give themselves the best possible chance by putting up a big total.RCB currently sit on 18 points from nine wins in 13 matches, while SRH have 16 points from the same number of games. A victory for Hyderabad would keep alive their hopes of climbing to second place based on Net Run Rate.“I think it’s a long shot finishing top two, but we just want to give it a crack. Want the boys to enjoy tonight,” Cummins said at the toss.SRH’s decision to bat first appeared well-judged, with the Hyderabad surface looking dry and even, offering consistent bounce and carry – ideal conditions for strokeplay and aggressive batting.Playing XIs:Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (wk), Heinrich Klaasen, Salil Arora, R Smaran, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Pat Cummins (capt), Shivang Kumar, Eshan Malinga, Sakib HussainImpact substitutes: Aniket Verma, Praful Hinge, Liam Livingstone, Harsh Dubey, Harshal PatelRoyal Challengers Bengaluru: Venkatesh Iyer, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (capt), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rasikh Salam, Suyash Sharma, Josh HazlewoodImpact substitutes: Tim David, Kanishk Chouhan, Swapnil Singh, Abhinandan Singh, Jordan Cox.
