Chandigarh [India], May 28 (ANI): Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s sensational knock against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Eliminator of IPL 2026 took Rajasthan Royals to the second qualifier after a big 47-run win over SRH here at Maharaja Yadavindra International Stadium.
The 15-year-old Sooryavanshi made 97 runs off just 29 balls with the help of 12 sixes and five fours, which helped his side post 243/8 in the knockout clash.
SRH Assistant Coach, James Franklin, praised the teenager’s talent for big hitting and said that the left-handed batter is only going to be better and stronger from here.
Addressing the media during the post-match press conference, Franklin said, “I don’t think anyone’s ever seen a talent like this. It’s freakish what he’s doing at the moment. To think that he’s potentially got 25 years left in a career is quite scary. And he’s only going to get better. He’s only going to get stronger. He’s only going to get more mature with how he bats. So it’s just devastating at the moment.”
Sooryavanshi went past West Indies icon Chris Gayle for most sixes in an IPL season with 65 sixes. He is also the leading run-scorer in the tournament this year with 680 runs, striking at 242 and an average of 45. He has also hit 55 fours this season.
Talking about the plans of bowling against Sooryavanshi, Franklin said, “There was a very, very small margin where you could bowl to him. And I guess when you’re playing on a really good pitch as well, it makes it particularly hard for bowlers to try and execute that tiny margin that you’re looking for. I think you probably saw in the first couple of overs of the power play that we were trying to bowl quite full, sort of inside leg stump, trying to get under his swing.”
He added, “But then he started to work that out, which is his talent. He’s an amazing talent who can then start playing around with that and then start to cause the bowlers to have to go to other places, which tend to then go back into his strength. So, yeah, just another amazing innings from an amazing talent.”
During the chase, SRH sunk to 57/4 in the powerplay itself, despite a brief counter-attack from Ishan Kishan (33 in 11 balls, with three fours and three sixes). Archer and Burger (2/26) were central to RR’s success with the ball in the powerplay, skittling out SRH for just 196 in 19.2 overs.
Nitish Kumar Reddy (38 in 20 balls, with three fours and two sixes) and Salil Arora (35 in 20 balls, with two fours and two sixes) put up a fight in the later stages with a 56-run sixth-wicket partnership, but Ravindra Jadeja (2/21) dimmed whatever little hope was left by removing both of them. Sooryavanshi was named as the ‘Player of the Match’ for his match-defining knock.
Pace sensation Jofra Archer dismantled the SRH top-order with his raw pace and struck thrice inside the powerplay to dismiss Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan within his first three overs. He finished his bowling spell with figures of 3/58.
Speaking on Archer’s bowling, SRH Assistant Coach said, “He’s got speed, and he’s got bounce. He can get the ball to move in the air and off the pitch as well. So they’re pretty good starting points. He still went for runs. He didn’t escape going for runs tonight. It’s just that he got three massive wickets for them. Our top three batters were out inside that three-over spell that he bowled in the power play, and obviously, that puts a big dent into anyone’s side if they lose their top three inside the power play. Maybe the point of difference for him was that the fact that he could produce wicket-taking deliveries inside that three-over spell.”
With this loss, SRH has been eliminated from the tournament, while Rajasthan Royals will battle Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 2 on Friday for a spot in the final against defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
Reflecting on SRH’s campaign this season, Franklin said, “I don’t think it went wrong. We’ve won nine out of 14 round robin games. We ended up third on the table due to the run rate. So I think overall we’ve had a really good season. I don’t think too much has gone wrong. We’ve seen the emergence of some young players in our group. I think of tonight, Shivang Kumar, Praful Hinge, Sakib Hussain, Salil Arora, and Smaran Ravichandran. So there are five in our starting 11 that have come in this year, which is great, which is what you want as a franchise, is to have the emergence of young talent coming through every year, as well as obviously your senior players, your senior contributors, which again, we’ve had the top four have been amazing.
He further added, “The runs that they’ve amassed, the games that they’ve won, the partnerships that they’ve had have been brilliant. And then I think the other factor to that, and I guess the biggest compliment that we’ve had within the playing group has obviously been Nitish Kumar Reddy, the way that he’s made lovely contributions with the bat. He’s taken some vital wickets for us. And again, that is the beauty of having a genuine all-rounder in your team, that they can make those nice contributions, both with bat and ball.”
“So I think overall, not a lot’s gone wrong. There’s obviously a lot of time now before the next IPL, when you start to think about who you retain, and then there’ll be another auction. So that’s a long way away. Every team will probably make changes and try to refine and try and make their squads better. But as it sits here right now, right at the very finish of the tournament for us, I think we’ve had a really good tournament,” he concluded. (ANI)
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