Rajasthan Royals (RR) opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi tore apart the Gujarat Titans (GT) bowling attack in the IPL 2026 Qualifier 2 clash at Mullanpur on Friday (May 29).
Carrying his phenomenal form from the Eliminator where he hammered 97 off 29 balls, the teenager once again took control of a high-pressure playoff scenario.
Despite the wickets falling around him, Sooryavanshi produced a fine knock of 96 in 47 balls with 8 fours and 7 sixes. He was looking set for his third IPL hundred but found a fielder at third man for the second game in a row, off a short ball from Kagiso Rabada.
After the dismissal, RR skipper Riyan Parag was seen having an animated exchange with Sooryavanshi, who looked visibly upset in the dugout.
As the video of this moment went viral on the internet, Parag was slammed by the fans for seemingly scolding the 15-year-old prodigy.
Here are the reactions:
With this innings, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi became the first uncapped player to score 700 runs in a single IPL season. He also become the fastest batter to score 1,000 IPL runs in terms of balls, reaching the mark in 440 balls, surpassing Andre Russel's 545-ball record by a big margin.
However, Sooryavanshi’s effort went in vain as GT chased down the formidable target of 215 runs with seven wickets and eight deliveries to spare.
During the chase, Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan dismantled the RR bowling attack. The duo combined for a staggering 167-run opening partnership, recording the highest ever partnership for any wicket in an IPL playoff match. Sudharsan set the tone with 58 off 32 balls before getting dismissed in a rare hit-wicket fashion.
Gill remained unstoppable, reaching his fastest-ever IPL century off just 47 deliveries. He finished with a match-winning 104 off 53 balls, studded with 15 boundaries and 3 sixes, before falling LBW to Jofra Archer.
Following the captain’s dismissal, quick-fire closing contributions from Washington Sundar (16 off 9) and Rahul Tewatia (17* off 9) easily guided the Titans across the finish line.
