Fifteen-year-old batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi produced a breathtaking display of power-hitting to guide the Rajasthan Royals (RR) to a commanding 47-run victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the IPL 2026 Eliminator at Mullanpur. Opening the innings after SRH won the toss and opted to bowl, the young left-handed opener unleashed absolute carnage, blasting a stunning 97 runs off just 29 deliveries at an astonishing strike rate of 334.48. Armed with a fearless approach, Sooryavanshi smashed 12 towering sixes, breaking Chris Gayle’s 14-year-old record for the most sixes in a single IPL season by taking his tally to 65. During his explosive knock, he also equaled Suresh Raina’s legendary record for the fastest fifty in IPL playoff history, reaching the milestone in a mere 16 balls.
Though the young prodigy missed out on breaking Gayle’s record for the fastest-ever IPL century after being dismissed just three runs short of a ton, his efforts rewrote the record books. Sooryavanshi became the first teenager in history to score 600 runs in a T20 tournament before turning 20 and now holds the record for the most runs by an uncapped batter in a single IPL season with 680 runs. Supported by an equally explosive half-century from Dhruv Jurel (50 off 21 balls), the Royals posted a mammoth total of 243 for 8, registering their highest-ever score in IPL history.
Chasing a daunting target of 244, Sunrisers Hyderabad suffered an immediate setback when speedster Jofra Archer dismissed Abhishek Sharma for a duck in the opening over. Archer continued his furious spell by tearing through the SRH top order, removing the dangerous Ishan Kishan for 33 and Travis Head for 17, leaving Hyderabad reeling at 57 for 4 inside the powerplay. Despite a fighting 56-run counterattack from Nitish Kumar Reddy (38) and brief middle-order fireworks from Salil Arora (35), SRH simply could not keep up with the ballooning required run rate under constant wickets. Archer finished as the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3 for 58, while Ravindra Jadeja, Nandre Burger, and Sushant Mishra picked up two wickets apiece to bundle out SRH for 196 in 19.2 overs. With this clinical performance, Rajasthan Royals have marched into Qualifier 2, where they will lock horns with the Gujarat Titans for a coveted spot in the tournament finale.
