Batters shine as Rajasthan end Punjab’s 7-game unbeaten run

Fifteen-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi became the leading run-getter in this IPL season with a cracking 43 on Tuesday that helped Rajasthan Royals beat Punjab Kings by six wickets in a high-scoring contest.

The teenage Indian batsman kept up his blazing T20 form with his 16-ball knock that lay the foundation for Rajasthan’s chase of 223 as they reached home with four balls to spare in Punjab’s home Chandigarh.

Sooryavanshi’s opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal hit 51 before South African Donovan Ferreira smacked an unbeaten 52 to complete the win and inflict a first defeat of the season on table toppers Punjab.

The left-handed Sooryavanshi began with a bang as he hit Arshdeep Singh for a six and two fours before going after Lockie Ferguson for a couple of hits over the fence.

Sooryavanshi fell to Arshdeep after he mistimed a hit to be caught at mid-off. He reached 400 runs in nine outings this edition to take top spot in the batting chart.

Sunrisers Hyderabad opener Abhishek Sharma slipped to second with 380 runs but he has played a match less than Sooryavanshi.

The boy wonder is now the fastest to 400 runs in a single IPL season, getting there in 167 balls to beat Andre Russell’s record from 2019 by 21 balls.

Sooryavanshi has been in phenomenal form as he cracked a 36-ball century on Saturday against Hyderabad to become the youngest and fastest to score 1,000 T20 runs.

In his latest knock Sooryavanshi hit some jaw-dropping shots including a flick off Ferguson for a six over deep mid-wicket.

Jaiswal kept up pace in his 27-ball knock after Sooryavanshi departed and despite disciplined bowling by Punjab in the middle overs, Rajasthan remained on course.

An unbeaten 77-run stand between Ferreira and impact substitute Shubham Dubey, who hit 31, steered the team home.

Earlier Punjab’s Australian batter Marcus Stoinis hammered an unbeaten 22-ball 62 to guide the team to 222-4 after being invited to bat first.

But the batting blitz was not enough as Punjab, led by Shreyas Iyer and coached by Ricky Ponting, suffered their first defeat in eight matches this season.

Meanwhile, left-handed wicketkeeper-batter Anuj Rawat is yet to get game time in IPL 2026, but the Gujarat Titans wicketkeeper-batter insists he is ‘100 percent ready’ whenever he’s called to play an IPL game for the 2022 champions and credited the franchise’s rigorous training culture for keeping him sharp.

With GT sitting on eight points and fifth place in the second half of the season, Rawat said the mood inside the camp is anything but subdued.

“As you can see, we have eight points and we are almost halfway through the season. So, I think the atmosphere of the team and the way we are going with two points recently, I can see a lot of positivity,” Rawat told IANS in an exclusive conversation on Tuesday.

The call for Rawat being retained by GT support staff led by head coach Ashish Nehra brought immediate reassurance and the happiness of being in the same side for the IPL instead of the possibility of making a fresh start elsewhere.

“There was no specific message like that, but there was a conversation that we will retain you. As soon as our sir’s call and message came, he said that we are retaining you ahead of the auction. So, this was the only conversation.

“Definitely, I was very happy because you will represent that franchise again with which you have already been with for a season. So, I think that thing helps a lot because if you go to a new franchise, then you have to come back to a new setup.

“Everything in it - the coaching staff is different, the environment is different. If you are being retained for the same franchise, then there are a lot of things that are in your favour,” he elaborated.

Delhi-based Rawat, who has 318 runs in 24 IPL games, reserved particular praise for the culture in GT, which stands in contrast with his previous stints in the tournament.

“I think when I was in the last franchise, I was in a different room. So, the atmosphere of a dressing room is very much similar. But the GT dressing room environment is very friendly and this is the thing that makes GT different from other franchises,” he said.

One notable thread of continuity from his Rajasthan Royals days has been his association with veteran wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler, who now turns out alongside him at GT.

“I was with him when I was in Rajasthan and now I got a chance to play alongside him in GT. So, our bonding from the time at Rajasthan is still very similar.

Agencies