Australian captain Pat Cummins has been left stunned after seeing his Indian Premier League (IPL) side put to the sword by teenage Indian sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
The 15-year-old’s remarkable 97 guided Rajasthan Royals to a 47-run win over Cummins’s Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL eliminator on Wednesday, local time, keeping alive their hopes of reaching the final.
Chasing 244, Hyderabad fumbled in front of an incisive Rajasthan attack and was bowled out for 196 in 19.2 overs at a sparsely filled New PCA Stadium, ending its campaign on a disappointing note.
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Put into bat, Sooryavanshi tore into the Hyderabad attack from the outset, with the teen smashing a 16-ball half-century, and surpassing Chris Gayle’s long-standing record for most sixes in a season.
Sooryavanshi has now hit 65 sixes, eclipsing Gayle’s 59 in 2012. He is also the leading runscorer for the current IPL season with 680 runs at a dazzling strike rate of 242.85.
Cummins copped the brunt of Sooryavanshi’s damage, finishing with figures of 0-64 off four overs, and said the teenager’s blitz left him and his fellow bowlers with very few answers.
“Yeah, he played pretty well. [You] don’t feel like you have too many options,” Cummins said after the match.
Pat Cummins (left) and the rest of Hyderabad’s attack had very little impact against Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. (AP Photo: Ashwini Bhatia)
“Obviously, it’s a really good pitch, but the margins are so small, you know. You miss your yorker by a little bit, [and] he doesn’t tend to miss them. So yeah, fair play.”
Opening alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sooryavanshi drove Rajasthan’s charge as the pair raced to 80 without loss in the powerplay, leaving the Hyderabad bowlers struggling for control.
Sooryavanshi went on to hammer 97 off 29 balls, including five fours and 12 sixes, but fell short of breaking Gayle’s fastest IPL century record of 30 balls.
Sooryavanshi miscued an upper cut to deep third, leaving him visibly dejected after the dismissal as Smaran Ravichandran completed the catch.
“I thought about it [the hundred] after I got out. At that time, I was just focusing on contributing as much as I can,” Sooryavanshi said after being named player of the match.
“Hundreds will come, but the goal is to ensure how we win trophies.”
Following the teen’s dismissal, Dhruv Jurel (50 off 21) and captain Riyan Parag (26 off 12) tried to elevate the innings, but Hyderabad’s bowlers soon stemmed the run flow.
They conceded just 36 runs while taking five wickets in the final five overs, though Rajasthan still posted a formidable total.
Ishan Kishan and Travis Head attempted to set the tempo for Hyderabad, but scoreboard pressure told as they slumped to 4-71 in the powerplay, with Jofra Archer leading the charge.
Archer returned figures of 3-58, while Ravindra Jadeja, Nandre Burger and Sushant Mishra took two wickets each.
Rajasthan will play Gujarat Titans in qualifier two on Friday.
Reuters
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