Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Delhi Capitals

Sunrisers Hyderabad face Delhi Capitals in IPL 2026 Match 4 at Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium (39,200 capacity) in Hyderabad, on Sunday 29 March 2026, starting at 19:30 IST (UTC+5:30). SRH are one-time IPL champions (2016). Delhi Capitals reached the 2020 final under Shreyas Iyer’s captaincy but are yet to win the title. Pat Cummins captains Sunrisers; Axar Patel leads Delhi in 2026.

Delhi Capitals have spent most of their IPL existence as the competition’s great unfulfilled promise. Under Ricky Ponting’s coaching from 2018, they rebuilt systematically, developing Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant, and Shikhar Dhawan into a batting unit that felt genuinely dangerous. The 2020 final run to Dubai came from a side that had absorbed years of rebuilding and finally crystallised, only to run into a Mumbai Indians machine that won their fifth title that evening. Since then, Pant’s absence through injury between 2022 and 2024 reshaped the team’s identity, and Axar Patel’s appointment as captain for 2026 signals a pivot toward all-round depth over individual brilliance.

Axar Patel is one of Indian cricket’s most underrated match-winners. His left-arm spin is economical enough to strangle middle-overs scoring and sharp enough to take wickets on a length, and his lower-order hitting in Tests proved he can produce runs under pressure when the team needs them. As T20 captain, he brings a tactical awareness built across hundreds of franchise cricket matches. Delhi’s bowling attack under his leadership will not be passive.

The challenge for Delhi at Hyderabad is the nature of this pitch after dark. The quick outfield accelerates the ball to the boundary in the powerplay, SRH’s signature phase where Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma can set totals that close the match before the dew arrives. Delhi’s pace bowlers, particularly Anrich Nortje when fit, are the antidote: express pace on a fast surface can check even SRH’s most aggressive batting intentions. If Delhi can hold SRH to something chaseable, their batting depth gives them a real second-innings platform.

When is SRH vs Delhi Capitals? The match starts at 19:30 IST (UTC+5:30) on 29 March 2026. UK fans in London watch at 15:00 BST. Australian fans in Sydney tune in at 00:30 AEDT on 30 March. Viewers on the US East Coast catch it at 10:00 EDT. For live conversions, check India time and Hyderabad time.

Delhi’s last win at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium came in 2023, when they restricted SRH to 170 and chased it in 18.4 overs with Pant in full flow. Pant is back. So is the question of whether Delhi have finally become the side their talent has always suggested they should be.