Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], May 23 (ANI): Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) Daniel Vettori credited his team for a 'fantastic tournament' in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season group stage, after the team defeated Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in their last league game to finish with 18 points.

SRH beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) by 55 runs in their final group-stage match. With the win, SRH finished on 18 points in the IPL 2026 standings, but missed out on a top-two finish as RCB and Gujarat Titans (GT), also on 18 points, stayed ahead due to a superior net run rate.

While SRH are third with the NRR of +0.524, GT are second with the NRR of +0.695. RCB lead the points table with the NRR of +0.783. All three teams have played 14 matches, won nine and have lost five.

Third-place finish means that SRH will have to play the Eliminator clash and will then have to win the Qualifier 2 against the loser of the Qualifier 1 (RCB vs GT) in order to reach the final.

SRH endured a difficult start to their IPL 2026 campaign, losing three of their first four matches, but bounced back strongly with five straight victories to script an impressive turnaround.

Daniel Vettori praised Sunrisers Hyderabad's performance against RCB, and said that they played well throughout the tournament, won nine matches, and narrowly missed a top finish due to net run rate despite a strong overall campaign.

'We played really well. You can't have everything. It was a magnificent game. I thought the guys were incredible. Top of the table, missed out a little bit on run rate, but nine wins is a fantastic tournament,' Vettori said during the post-match press conference.

In the match against RCB, SRH posted a massive score of 255/4 while batting first, powered by fifties from Ishan Kishan, Abhishek Sharma and Heinrich Klaasen, and defeated RCB by 55 runs in Hyderabad.

In reply, RCB managed 200/4 despite a half-century from Rajat Patidar and a strong start from Venkatesh Iyer, with Eshan Malinga taking 2/33 to lead SRH's bowling effort. (ANI)