Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s innings in the IPL Eliminator left a near-miss hovering over Rajasthan Royals’ blockbuster chase. The 15-year-old opener needed just three runs off his next delivery to rewrite the record for the quickest IPL century, currently held by Chris Gayle. But it wasn’t meant to be: Sooryavanshi reached 97 off 28 balls, finishing one shot short of history as Smaran Ravichandran held a smart catch at third man.
How the innings unfolded
- Sooryavanshi surged through the final stretch of his knock, smashing 97 runs in his last 28 deliveries, including 12 sixes and five fours.
- With the target of Gayle’s fastest IPL hundred in sight, he required three runs off one ball to break the mark.
- He had earlier taken Sunrisers Hyderabad’s attack apart—bowling that featured Pat Cummins, an Ashes-winning captain—showing little hesitation or respect for the threat.
- After blasting a 16-ball half-century, he continued to pile on runs without any visible slowdown.
- Rajasthan Royals charged to 80/0 within the first six overs, registering the third-highest Powerplay score in IPL knockout/Playoff history.
- RR went past the 100-run mark in just 7.2 overs, with Sooryavanshi striking a six off Praful.
- In the following phase, he hit two fours (one coming off a no-ball) and another six in quick succession.
- He then arrived at 97 off 28 balls, needing four runs off the next ball to take down Gayle’s “greatest T20” record for the fastest IPL ton—set in 30 balls against Pune Warriors India in 2013.
- That chance slipped away when Sooryavanshi, facing a short and wide delivery from Hinge, went for an upper-cut over third man.
- The shot didn’t carry far enough; Ravichandran moved in and completed the catch, leaving Sooryavanshi visibly shaken.
- Despite the disappointment, Sooryavanshi managed to return out of the field, with fans and fellow players applauding his effort.
Sooryavanshi’s campaign has been rewriting the limits of what teenagers can do in T20 cricket. On Wednesday, he reached yet another milestone during his record-breaking run in IPL 2026, becoming the first player in the world to hit 61 sixes in a single T20 tournament—surpassing Chris Gayle’s previous benchmark in the Eliminator, a mark created against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Gayle’s original standard came from his 2012 IPL season with Royal Challengers Bengaluru, when he struck 59 sixes—an achievement that endured for 14 years despite the game’s shift toward even more aggressive franchise batting. Gayle also became the first teenager to reach 600 T20 runs before turning 20.
Sooryavanshi, the young left-hander from Bihar, has built an entire highlight reel across this IPL. He currently tops the standings for most runs by a teenager in a T20 tournament. His 600 runs in 15 matches has pushed him past Devdutt Padikkal’s earlier benchmark of 580 runs for Karnataka in the 2019-20 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
His impact has also leapfrogged multiple established names who made early impressions at the same age. Tilak Varma of Mumbai Indians is now third on the all-time list with 397 runs in IPL 2022. South Africa’s Lhuan-dre Pretorius also recorded 397 runs during the 2024-25 SA20 season for Paarl Royals. England’s Will Smeed, France’s Gustav McKeon, and Indian stars Rishabh Pant and Prithvi Shaw are among the other players whose totals Sooryavanshi has overtaken.
Beyond tournament-wide milestones, the Rajasthan Royals opener has also set a new benchmark for the most runs by a teenager in a single IPL season. Before this year, Tilak Varma’s 397-run campaign for Mumbai Indians in 2022 stood as the reference point for teenage batters in the competition.
Eliminator setup: toss and team changes
Earlier in the evening, Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss and chose to bowl against Rajasthan Royals in the Eliminator at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh on Wednesday. SRH made one alteration to their XI, bringing in Praful Hinge in place of Salil Arora.
Rajasthan Royals also adjusted their combination, with Ravindra Jadeja coming into the starting lineup in place of Shubham Dubey.
