As the teenage prodigy began his work, it was the Sunrisers Hyderabad bowlers who were left praying for mercy.
What followed was 29 deliveries of pure, uncut sporting theatre. Sooryavanshi didn’t just play an innings; he unleashed a hurricane that almost blew Chris Gayle out of the IPL record books, smashing 97 with five fours and a staggering 12 sixes.
On the back of Sooryavanshi’s jaw-dropping assault, Rajasthan Royals piled up a daunting 243/8. And if there was one batting line-up capable of treating that mountain like a climbable one, it was SRH’s.
With Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head and Ishan Kishan stacked at the top, Sunrisers walked out with enough firepower to believe that 244 was achievable. For a brief while, that belief flickered brightly. Then Jofra Archer arrived, breathing fire.
Archer (3/58) looked charged up from his very first stride, bowling with hostility and rhythm. The speed gun repeatedly flashed beyond 150kph and it took him just two deliveries to rip a hole through the chase.
Charging in hard, Archer banged in a short ball at Abhishek Sharma. The left-hander, hurried completely by the pace and bounce, awkwardly attempted a hook. The ball ballooned safely to wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel, and Rajasthan had their early breakthrough.
Archer then removed Ishan Kishan and Head as Hyderabad were eventually bowled out for 196, handing Rajasthan a commanding 47-run win. With the victory, Rajasthan Royals now march into Friday’s second qualifier against Gujarat Titans for a place in the final.
Earlier, Sooryavanshi began his assault by treating Sunrisers captain Pat Cummins not like an international icon, but like a regular club bowler, hoisting him nonchalantly straight down the ground for six in the first over. When Eshan Malinga tried to push him back with a vicious, throat-directed bouncer in the second over, the kid simply arched his back, trusted his wrists and hooked it deep into the square-leg stands.
But the true absurdity of his talent crystallised when Cummins returned for his second over. Sooryavanshi took him apart in an exhibition of complete batting freedom. Three sixes came in a row, each distinct in its geometry.
The first was a lofted chip down the ground that barely looked like a swing but still cleared the ropes with room to spare. Next, when Cummins tried to overcorrect with a short ball, Sooryavanshi effortlessly upper-cut it over third man. To complete the trilogy, the Rajasthan Royals opener waited back on a slower ball and hammered it violently back past the bowler’s ears.
Rajasthan Royals flew to 50 in just 3.2 overs, and the teenager raised his own half-century off a mere 16 deliveries — equalling Suresh Raina’s record for the fastest fifty in an IPL playoff. By the time Sakib Hussain was brought on to stem the bleeding, Sooryavanshi had fully unlocked his hitting arc. He loaded up and dispatched Hussain for three more sixes, one of which travelled into the stadium’s third tier. With his seventh six of the day, he broke Chris Gayle’s 14-year-old record of 59 sixes in a single IPL season, a feat Gayle achieved when Sooryavanshi was only a year old.
Yet, cricket is a game of agonising margins. Needing just three runs to secure the fastest century in IPL history, Sooryavanshi went for one final upper cut off Praful Hinge and was caught by Smaran Ravichandran at deep third man. He walked off devastated, tears visibly welling in his eyes, but left behind an audience completely awestruck.
After his departure, Dhruv Jurel (50 off 21 balls) and Riyan Parag (26 off 12) kept the hyper-aggressive momentum alive. The foundation was perfectly laid at 207/4 after 15.2 overs, making a target near 270 look within reach.
However, the closing chapters of the innings belonged to SRH’s bowlers. In a strong rearguard action, Hyderabad choked the middle and lower order, restricting RR to 36 runs while taking four wickets after the 15-over mark.
From a position of total dominance, Rajasthan Royals finished at 243/8 in 20 overs. It was a testament to the madness of modern T20 cricket and the sheer ferocity of Sooryavanshi’s opening salvo that SRH walked off the field feeling relieved to be chasing “only” 244.
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