Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag admitted that poor fielding hurt his side badly in their five-wicket defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2026 on Saturday. Despite putting up a strong batting display, RR could not finish the job after a string of missed chances proved expensive in a high-scoring contest at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.

The highlight of Rajasthan’s innings was a sensational 103 off 37 balls from 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, whose explosive knock produced one of the fastest centuries in IPL history. Useful contributions from Dhruv Jurel and Donovan Ferreira helped RR post a commanding 228/6, giving them every chance to defend a massive total.

But SRH made full use of Rajasthan’s errors in the field. Abhishek Sharma, who went on to score 57, was dropped twice early in his innings, while Ishan Kishan blasted a rapid 74 to keep the chase moving at a dangerous pace. Their 132-run stand changed the direction of the match. Nitish Kumar Reddy also survived a missed chance and made it count with a valuable 36, keeping the pressure squarely on the Royals.

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Speaking after the match, Parag said Rajasthan were let down by their own fielding mistakes. “I think skill-wise, we executed pretty nicely, but I think we dropped a few too many catches,” Riyan Parag said.

“Quality players like Abhishek and everyone who batted, you can’t really give them second chances. And they took them, so credit to them. But we could have been better on the field.”

Parag also felt RR fell short with the bat, saying they left 10 to 15 runs out there. He praised SRH’s death bowling, especially their yorkers in the 18th and 19th overs, and admitted Rajasthan may have liked a few extra runs on the board.

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He also singled out Jofra Archer for praise, describing his spell as another strong performance in what has been a good season for the England pacer. But even Archer’s effort could not stop SRH, who chased down the target with nine balls to spare and punished RR for every lapse.