Fifteen-year-old opening batter Vaibhav Sooryavanshi smashed a spectacular half-century for the Rajasthan Royals as they defeated the Chennai Super Kings by eight wickets in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The teenager is not new to the IPL scene having made his debut last year and recorded a 35-ball hundred against the Gujarat Titans but his display against Chennai was another reminder of his prodigious talent.
Sooryavanshi took the attack to the Chennai bowlers from the first ball and, alongside fellow opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, helped Rajasthan to 74-0 having made full use of the field restrictions during the powerplay.
He was finally dismissed for 52 from 17 deliveries in an innings that included five sixes and four fours.
Rajasthan had earlier restricted Chennai with the ball. They took four quick wickets to limit their opponents to 41-4 at the end of the powerplay with South African seamer Nandre Burger taking 2-26.
India’s Ravindra Jadeja and England’s Jofra Archer also took two wickets each as Chennai were bowled out for 127 in 19.4 overs.
The Royals then made light work of the run chase and knocked off 128 runs from 12.1 overs with Sooryavanshi and Jaiswal putting on 75 for the first wicket.
“I think of defending but the plan was to decide the game in the powerplay as we’d restricted them to a low score,” Sooryavanshi reflected after his innings.
“If the bowlers had bowled well in the powerplay then the game might have turned their way but we went all out in the powerplay.“
Sooryavanshi also revealed that Rajasthan coach Kumar Sangakkara and his staff told him to follow his attacking instincts and said to ‘read the situation’ and back my game’.
Rajasthan will next face Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad on Saturday, while Chennai host Punjab Kings on Friday.
