The Rajasthan Royals (RR) inched one step closer to the IPL 2026 final as they entered Qualifier 2 on the back of their resounding 47-run victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Eliminator.
The platform for this bumper win in Mullanpur was laid by none other than the 15-year-old prodigy, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who continues to take the IPL by storm.
Participating in his first IPL playoffs match, Sooryavanshi put the authoritative foot down and produced a blinder of a knock, one that threatened and missed Chris Gayle’s 30-ball IPL century record by only three runs.
The southpaw raised his fifty off only 16 balls, joining Suresh Raina’s feat of a 16-ball half-century as the joint-fastest fifty in IPL playoffs/knockouts.
Sooryavanshi blasted 97 runs off only 29 balls, his knock including 12 sixes and 5 fours. En route to this blitzkrieg, Sooryavanshi broke Gayle’s record for the most sixes in a single IPL edition: Gayle’s 2012 record of 59 sixes was taken down by the young RR opener who now has hammered 65 sixes in the IPL 2026.
Vaibhav also climbed the Orange Cap chart. He is now the leading run-scorer of the season with 680 runs, scored at an unbelievable strike rate of 242, notching up one century and four fifties. Sooryavanshi also has amassed the most runs by an uncapped player in an IPL edition.
Sooryavanshi’s thunderous 97 and Dhruv Jurel’s 50 (21) boosted RR to finish at 243/8, the second-highest total in an IPL playoffs/knockouts match, coming just a day after RCB piled up 254/5 against Gujarat Titans in Dharamsala. This is also now RR’s highest IPL total.
I think a little, not much: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi
Upon bagging the Man of the Match award, Sooryavanshi gave a sneak peek into his mindset. He said he doesn’t worry about the bowlers and tries to dominate them, adding that his focus is on working on his own batsmanship.
Sooryavanshi reflected, “I think a little, not much. Try to keep things simple. Just think about the bowlers and what plans I can have against them. I try to play with good intent and dominate the bowlers. I want to pressurise the bowler. My focus was on contributing for the team. How to win the trophy, that’s my focus now. If I have any weakness, I try to work on that and improve on that aspect of my game.”
SRH captain Pat Cummins was impressed by Sooryavanshi’s ball-striking, admitting that he felt helpless at one point.
Cummins said on Sooryavanshi, “He played pretty well. Yeah, just don’t feel like you have too many options.”
GT vs RR: When and where is Qualifier 2?
The Gujarat Titans vs Rajasthan Royals Qualifier 2 is scheduled for Friday, May 29, in Mullanpur, New Chandigarh. The winner of this clash will advance to the final to face RCB on May 31, Sunday, in Ahmedabad.
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