NEW CHANDIGARH, India (AP) — Teenage star Vaibhav Sooryavanshi hit 97 off only 29 balls as Rajasthan Royals beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 47 runs in the Indian Premier League eliminator on Wednesday.
The 15-year-old Sooryavanshi hit his second-highest individual score of the season, including 12 sixes and five fours, as Rajasthan reached a record 243-8 in 20 overs.
It was the second-highest total in IPL knockouts, a day after Royal Challengers Bengaluru had posted the highest 254-5 against Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 1. Bengaluru beat Gujarat by 92 runs to advance to the final.
Meanwhile, Dhruv Jurel also hit 50 off 21, while Hyderabad’s top-order struggled to get going and was bowled out for 196 in 19.2 overs. Jofra Archer picked up 3-58 in four overs, while Nandre Burger took 2-26.
The defeat eliminates Hyderabad, while Rajasthan will now take on Gujarat in Qualifier 2 at the same venue. Friday’s winner will take on Bengaluru in the final at Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Hyderabad opted to bowl but ran into Sooryavanshi, who smacked 50 off 16 balls, and took control of proceedings. He hit eight sixes as Rajasthan scored 80-0 in the powerplay and reached 100 in 44 balls.
Sooryavanshi smacked another four sixes, scoring 47 off the next 12 balls, and was one hit away from the fastest-ever IPL hundred, when he was caught at third man in the eighth over.
He hit Praful Hinge for three sixes and two fours before holing out in search of Chris Gayle’s 30-ball record. Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored a tame 29 in comparison, was caught in the 11th over.
Sooryavanshi broke Jaiswal’s record of most IPL runs by an uncapped batter (626) — he now has 680 runs in 15 innings, the current season’s highest tally.
Jurel and skipper Riyan Parag then added 55 off 21 balls as Rajasthan carried forward its momentum. It was a sixth half-century for Jurel this season, before Hinge picked his second wicket.
Rajasthan lost regular wickets once past 200 in the 15th over but managed to garner enough momentum to record its highest-ever IPL total. Its previous best was also against Hyderabad – 242-5 last year.
Hyderabad needed a quickfire reply to have any chance, but it ran into in-form Archer, who had wrecked Mumbai Indians in the previous game.
Archer dismissed Abhishek Sharma for a two-ball duck, bowled Travis Head for 17 and then Ishan Kishan was also caught — Hyderabad was 57-4 in 4.4 overs.
Kishan had provided the quick start, hitting 33 off 11 balls, before he went for one shot too many off Archer.
The game was settled when Heinrich Klaasen was out lbw to Yash Raj Punja for 18.
From 81-5, Hyderabad breached the 190-mark thanks to Nitish Reddy (38) and impact sub Salil Arora (35), as the duo added 56 off 24 balls.
Ravindra Jadeja dismissed both, as Rajasthan beat Hyderabad for the first time in seven matches.
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