Sooryavanshi made 97 in only 29 balls, hitting 12 sixes and 5 fours in his knock.
Rajasthan Royals (RR) stormed into the Qualifier 2 of the IPL 2026 after they recorded a one-sided victory over the Eliminator against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on May 27, 2026. SRH captain Pat Cummins won the toss and chose to bowl first.
The decision backfired nicely, as Vaibhav Sooryavanshi punished the SRH bowlers, scoring a searing 97 in 29 balls with 12 sixes and 5 fours. Dhruv Jurel made 50 in 21 balls, Riyan Parag made 26, and Yashasvi Jaiswal made 29 runs as RR posted 243/8 in 20 overs.
In response, Jofra Arche picked three wickets and, along with Nandre Burger, rattled the SRH top order. Only Ishan Kishan (33), Nitish Kumar Reddy (38), and Salil Arora (35) showed some resistance, as SRH were bowled out for 196 and lost the game by 47 runs.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was named the Player of the Match, as RR will now face the Gujarat Titans on May 29 in the Qualifier 2.
Archer was asked if he had figured out a secret recipe to stop Sooryavanshi while bowling to him in the nets during a widely shared post-match interview on the IPL's official channels.
The England pacer jokingly sidestepped the topic rather than pointing out any potential flaws in his young teammate's game.
“The more runs he scores, the more runs we have to defend. So he can go on and get 150, it’s good for the boys when he scores a lot of runs,” Archer said. When asked if he bowls to Sooryavanshi in the nets, Archer replied: “Sometimes.”
Additionally, Archer laughed when the presenter pressed him further by inquiring as to exactly where he bowls to him. He said, “I’ll tell you after the IPL.”