15-year-old batting prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi played one of the greatest knocks in the history of the Indian Premier League, especially one played in a playoff. The Rajasthan Royals opener scored 97 runs in 29 deliveries, missing out on a well-deserved century.
Sooryavanshi’s innings was crucial for the Royals as they put up a massive total of 243 runs while batting first. And after the inaugural champions bowled out the Sunrisers Hyderabad for less than 200 runs, Vaibhav was named the Player of the Match.
Tonight’s SRH vs RR game was the Eliminator of IPL 2026, played at the PCA New Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh. This game was played between the team that finished third and the team that finished fourth in the league stage. The winner of this match would go on to Qualifier 2, while the loser would be eliminated.
Check Out: All Records Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Broke Vs SRH
Hyderabad came into this game as the favourites, having won their last six games against the Royals. SRH won the toss and decided to bowl first. This brought out RR’s opening pair of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
Hyderabad seemed to have started well. Pat Cummins, bowling the first over, conceded just three runs in his first five balls. But the tide shifted with a six off the final ball by Vaibhav. Something similar happened in the second over by Eshan Malinga, on the last ball of which came another six by the 15-year-old.
Soryavanshi would gear up in the third over, punishing Cummins by hitting a boundary on the second ball before smashing three consecutive maximums. At the end of the third over, he was batting at 36 off 10. Then, in the fourth over, he would hit three more sixes and would reach his half-century in 16 deliveries.
In the final two overs of the powerplay, RR “only” scored 17 more runs, taking their total to 80 at the end of the fielding restrictions.
Vaibhav batted for just two more overs but hit three fours and four sixes in that time. At the start of the eighth over, he was batting at 71 off 23. After a single by Jaiswal on the first ball, Sooryavanshi hit a six on the second, a four on the third, and another boundary on the fourth, which was a no-ball.
Batting at 85 in 26, it was clear that the record for the fastest century in the IPL, which Chris Gayle held at 30 deliveries, was very much in sight.
The fourth ball of the over was hit for a six, and so was the fifth ball. At 97 off 28, the record was within reach. However, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi skied the ball towards third man and was caught three runs away from a ton. And so, he missed out on the record for the fastest 100 in an IPL game.
All Records Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Broke Vs SRH
But during this innings, Vaibhav, who many are now calling the Universe Baby Boss, broke many more records during his historic innings in this SRH vs RR Eliminator.
The first one is a season record. Sooryavanshi hit 12 sixes in this innings. With that, he surpassed Chris Gayle for the most sixes in an IPL season. The West Indies legend had hit a whopping 59 maximums in the 2012 season. Vaibhav has not taken his tally to 65 with at least one game remaining for him.
Not only that, but 65 sixes in a season is also the highest number of sixes in a T20 tournament ever, IPL or otherwise.
With his 97 runs tonight, the teenager has also become the front-runner in the IPL 2026 Orange Cap race with 680 runs in 15 games. This is also the most runs in an IPL season for an uncapped player.
His 12 sixes tonight are also the joint-most sixes in an IPL innings by an Indian, equalling his own record from earlier this season against SRH in Jaipur. With 12 maximums in an Eliminator game, Sooryavanshi now also has the record for most sixes by a batter in an IPL playoff game, surpassing Shubman Gill, who hit 10 against the Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 2 in 2023.
Eight of these sixes came in the first six overs. This is the most number of sixes in a powerplay in the IPL.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi batted with a strike rate of 334.48, which is the highest strike rate for a batter with a 90+ score in the IPL. The record was previously held by Rajat Patidar, who scored 93* off 33 against Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 1 of IPL 2026 with a strike rate of 281.93.
This is also the second-highest strike rate for any batter with an 80+ score in the IPL. The record is still held by Suresh Raina, who scored 87 off 25 against the Punjab Kings in 2014.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, with his knock tonight, has also become the first player in IPL or any T20 tournament to score over 600 runs with a 200+ strike rate. His strike rate this season has been 243.
While 10 or more sixes have been hit in an IPL innings on several occasions, Vaibhav tonight hit 10 sixes in the least number of balls, taking just 24 deliveries to reach the milestone. This was also his fourth time hitting 10 or more sixes in an IPL innings, the joint most alongside Chris Gayle.
Vaibhav scored a 50+ score with a 300+ strike rate for the fourth time in the IPL, which is also the most. He has also scored a half-century within the powerplay on five occasions in the IPL, which is the second most, right behind David Warner, who has done this six times.
Sooryavanshi’s half-century tonight came in 16 deliveries. This is the joint-fastest 50 in an IPL playoff game. Suresh Raina hit one in 16 balls against Punjab in Qualifier 1 in IPL 2014.
Finally, the teenage prodigy has scored 490 runs in the powerplay in IPL 2026. This is the highest run tally in the powerplay for a batter in an IPL season or any T20 tournament. He surpassed Warner’s record of 467, which the Aussie set in 2016.
At 15, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi played one of the greatest and most crucial knocks ever in an IPL game. Doing so in a knockout playoff game is just the cherry on top.
His knock ensured that the Rajasthan Royals will march into Qualifier 2 against the Gujarat Titans on Friday, May 29, at the PCA New Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh.
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