Sooryavanshi’s stunning 93 takes RR closer to IPL playoffs

No Riyan Parag? No Ravindra Jadeja? No fast start for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi? No problem for Rajasthan Royals (RR) as they hunted down 221 against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and moved up to No.4 on the points table.

If RR also win their final league game against the Mumbai Indians on Sunday, they will firm up their playoff spot, irrespective of other results.

In RR’s chase of 221, Sooryavanshi got off to an unusually slow start – he was on 11 off 12 balls at one point.

After watching his opening partner and RR stand-in captain Yashasvi Jaiswal dominate the powerplay, Sooryavanshi cranked up to top gear when he lined up left-arm seamer Akash Singh for two sixes and three fours in the ninth over.

He then went on a more familiar six-hitting spree and by the time he was dismissed for 93 off 38 balls in the 14th over, he extended his sixes tally in IPL 2026 to 53. Only Chris Gayle has smashed more sixes in an IPL season, back in 2012 when Sooryavanshi was a year old.

Dhruv Jurel sealed the chase for RR with a calm fifty in the company of Donnovan Ferreira. (ESPNcricinfo)