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In match number 71 of the Tata Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) faced Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the eliminator of the tournament. It was Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s night as it was his killer hits that made fans go crazy at night and thoroughly enjoyed his six hitting show.
Rajasthan Royals won the game by 47 runs, eliminating the Orange Army from the tournament and the Royals will face Gujarat Titans (GT) in Qualifier 2 at the same venue. SRH captain Pat Cummins won the toss and decided to field first, making one change as he brought in Prafulla Hinz and RR brought in Ravindra Jadeja.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s performance against SRH
On being invited to bat first, Vaibhav Suryavanshi broke many records by scoring 97 runs in 29 balls. He became the player to score the fastest century in IPL history. The southpaw hit 12 sixes and hit 65 sixes in a season, the most by any player in a single edition.
He was supported in short bursts by Yashasvi Jaiswal and Dhruv Jurel, who scored 29 and 50 respectively. Royals got off to a great start scoring 80/0 in the power play. They scored 243/8 in 20 overs with the contribution of 26 runs from captain Riyan Parag.
SRH batsmen never got going
SRH’s openers, Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma, never got going while chasing the target of 244; The latter was out for a duck, and Head also went back on 17 as Ishan Kishan, who was striking the ball, made 33 as SRH lost five wickets inside 10 overs.
After this, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Salil Arora made a partnership of 56 runs, but Nitish was out on 38 runs and Salil scored 35 runs. In the end, Shivang Kumar’s fighting innings of 27 runs helped the Orange Army reduce the margin of defeat as they were bowled out for 196 runs.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi joins hands with Samson and Kishan for POTM record
Vaibhav Suryavanshi was the player of the match for his brilliant inning of 97 runs, and the 15-year-old is now the leading run-scorer in the tournament with 680 runs, which includes five fifties and a century in the competition so far. He would like to continue his aggressive batting in the next game also.
This was his third POTM as he became the joint-highest POTM this season with Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson. Vaibhav said after winning POTM, “(Do you celebrate or is it like ‘what is past is gone, now think ahead’?) When we win, we carry forward the positive intention and move forward to the next match.”
I think a little bit – Vaibhav Suryavanshi
“And we try to win the next match in the same way outside the leg-stump and reach the final. (What’s your mindset going into the next game?) I think a little bit, but not too much. I just try to play the game I’m in and not think too much. But if I feel there’s something I need to work on, I look at it.”
“(Tell us about your preparation before the match.) I just think about who the bowlers are in the opposition, how can I face them on this wicket, how big are the boundaries, just things like that. I just try to be positive with my intentions. When I do that, the bowlers are under pressure.”
Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s mantra: Think less, do more
A record-breaking night as Rajasthan Royals moved one step closer to their title dream.#TATAIPL 2026 Qualifier 2 #GTvRR | Fri, May 29, 6:30 pm pic.twitter.com/z7sjQuhVM6
– Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) May 27, 2026
Vaibhav Suryavanshi concluded, “So I try to keep it going and dominate the game. (On the ball he got out, did he know about the record?) I came to know only after he got out. At that time, my only focus was to contribute as much as possible because centuries will keep coming, but right now the focus is on how to win the trophy.”
“If I feel I’m struggling somewhere, I work on it. I don’t think about what the opposition is planning, it’s their plan. I focus on what my plan is, and I just try to play normal cricket.”
Also read: “Played very well”: Pat Cummins impressed with Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s explosive innings in Eliminator vs SRH
