By Admin 
In the 67th match of IPL 2026, Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by 55 runs. However, SRH did not get as big a win as they wanted, hence RCB won even after losing. Because both the teams had already confirmed their place in the playoffs, this fight was to remain in the top-2.
All 14-14 matches of the league stage of Royal Challengers Bangalore, Gujarat Titans and Sunrisers Hyderabad have been played. RCB and GT had 18 points each, after winning the match on Friday, SRH also reached 18 points. But on the basis of net run rate, Hyderabad could not come in the top-2.
After the big defeat by 55 runs, the net run rate of Royal Challengers Bangalore has dropped, but not so much that they have to lose their top position. To reach the top-2, SRH should have restricted Bengaluru to 160 runs, but while chasing the target of 256, Bengaluru had scored 200 runs.
Bengaluru’s net run rate is +0.783. Gujarat Titans remains at second position with a net run rate of +0.695. That means now Qualifier-1 will be between RCB and GT. SRH is at third place with +0.524 net run rate, they will have to play eliminator match.
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IPL 2026 playoff rules
Royal Challengers Bangalore and Gujarat Titans have made it to Qualifier-1. This match will be played on 26th May in Dharamshala. Both teams will get 2 chances to reach the finals. Sunrisers Hyderabad will play the eliminator match on May 27, the second team of which has not been decided yet. The fourth team in the points table has not been confirmed yet.
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IPL playoff round is starting from 26th May. The winning team in Qualifier-1 will directly reach the finals, while the losing team will play Qualifier-2, that is, they will get a second chance to go to the finals. The team that wins the eliminator match will advance to Qualifier-2 and the losing team will be eliminated. The winning team of Qualifier-2 will be the second finalist and the losing team will be eliminated.