Teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi produced his latest extraordinary innings by hitting 97 from just 29 balls to set up Rajasthan Royals’ win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League eliminator.
The 15-year-old struck 12 sixes, including three in a row off Australia captain Pat Cummins, before he was dismissed in the eighth over.
After hitting boundaries off seven balls in succession, he had one delivery to break Chris Gayle’s record for the fastest IPL century but was caught at deep third attempting an upper cut.
Sooryavanshi, who had reached 50 in 16 balls, looked crestfallen in the middle but was congratulated by his opponents and given a standing ovation by the crowd.
At that point Royals were 125-1 after eight overs, with opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal, an India international across formats, on 25 from 20 balls at the other end.
“What an innings. What a player,” said India legend Sunil Gavaskar, commentating.
“That is an innings to remember. An innings to savour.”
Sooryavanshi’s knock also took him to the top of this year’s run-scorers’ list in the IPL.
His seventh six, hit in only the fourth over, broke the record for the most sixes in an IPL season – a record previously held by former West Indies international Gayle with 59.
“The margins are so small,” Cummins said.
“You miss your yorker by a little bit and he doesn’t tend to miss them. Fair play.”
