Guwahati: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi slammed a blistering 52 off just 17 balls as Rajasthan Royals launched their IPL 2026 campaign with a thumping eight-wicket victory over Chennai Super Kings at the ACA Stadium on Monday.
Sooryavanshi’s fifty came in only 15 deliveries, the third fastest in IPL history, to set up the win for RR. His knock, laced with four fours and five sixes, propelled RR to 74 without loss in the power-play, effectively sealing the contest in their favour.
Though he fell soon after, Yashasvi Jaiswal (38 not out) and skipper Riyan Parag (14 not out) calmly completed the formalities to complete the chase with 47 balls to spare and cap off a dominant performance that began with a disciplined bowling effort to bowl CSK out for 127.
RR had a flying start as Matt Henry’s opening over went for 18 runs, with Sooryavanshi pulling and driving for boundaries (including Kartik Sharma dropping him for zero) while Jaiswal glanced him fine for four.
Khaleel Ahmed thought he had Sooryavanshi lbw on the first ball of his spell, but review showed the ball going over leg stump. Jaiswal played watchfully even as Sooryavanshi continued to attack to keep the runs flowing.
Henry’s second over was taken apart by Sooryavanshi – slashing a slower ball over backward point for six, while Jaiswal muscled Khaleel straight over mid-off for four. Anshul Kamboj was greeted with three boundaries as Sooryavanshi ramped and tickled him over third man and fine leg before smashing a six over long-on, as RR crossed the fifty-run mark.
Noor Ahmad’s introduction did little to stem the flow as Sooryavanshi launched consecutive sixes over long-on to bring up a blistering fifty off just 15 balls, as 19 runs came off the sixth over to take RR to 74/0 at the end of the power-play.
But just after that, Sooryavanshi attempted to flay a length ball over cover but Sarfaraz Khan ran in from the deep and completed a diving catch at deep extra cover to dismiss him for 52.
Dhruv Jurel kept the tempo going with four quick boundaries, before dragging one back onto his stumps off Anshul Kamboj while trying to scoop off him. Parag lofted and reverse-swept to get his four and six, while Jaiswal thumped one over long-off for six before getting the winning single to launch RR’s campaign with a thumping win.
Brief Scores: Chennai Super Kings 127 in 19.4 overs (Jamie Overton 43, Kartik Sharma 18; Ravindra Jadeja 2-18, Jofra Archer 2-19) lost to Rajasthan Royals 128/2 in 12.1 overs (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 52, Yashasvi Jaiswal 38 not out; Anshul Kamboj 2-27) by eight wickets
(IANS)
