Rajasthan Royals After beating Sunrisers Hyderabad by 47 runs in the eliminator on Wednesday, they advanced to Qualifier 2 of IPL 2026. The night belonged to 15-year-old Vibhu Suryavanshi, who scored 97 off just 29 balls to put RR in complete control of the contest. Chasing a place in Qualifier 2, Rajasthan Royals posted 243 for eight first as Suryavanshi tore apart the SRH bowling attack in one of the most devastating innings of the season. The youngster hit 12 sixes and came within touching distance of Chris Gayle’s record for the fastest IPL century. Gayle completed his century in 30 balls, while Suryavanshi fell for 97 after facing just 29 balls. The left-hander struck from the start and left Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Pat Cummins scrambling for answers. Anything else disappeared straight down the ground, while smaller balls were cut and pulled into the stands. Suryavanshi reached his fifty in just 16 balls, eight of which were sixes. His opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal looked mostly from the other end and scored 29 off 29 balls. By the time Suryavanshi was dismissed by Praful Hinge in the eighth over, Rajasthan Royals had already reached 125 in eight overs. The youngster also broke Chris Gayle’s record for most sixes in an IPL season. He now has 65 sixes this season, surpassing Gayle’s 59 sixes. Dhruv Jorrell then capped the innings with a blistering 21-ball 50, his sixth half-century of the season. Rajasthan Royals posted an even bigger total of 180 for two in 13 overs, but Sunrisers Hyderabad fought back in the death overs. SRH took five wickets for 36 runs in the last five overs to prevent RR from crossing the 260-run mark. Still, the damage was done. Pat Cummins finished with costly figures of 0 for 64 from four overs. Saqib Hussain conceded 49 runs in three overs while Parful Hinge took three wickets but conceded 54 runs. Ishan Malinga also struggled, while wrist-spinner Shivang Kumar impressed and took Jaiswal’s wicket. In reply, Sunrisers Hyderabad never really recovered after losing wickets in the Powerplay. Jofra Archer Played crucial blows in the powerplay and removed Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Travis Head. Archer’s final figures read 4-0-58-3. Although he leaked runs later in the innings, his wickets of SRH’s biggest match-winner proved decisive. Ishan Kishan scored 33 while Nitish Kumar Reddy scored 38 and kept SRH in check for a short while. Salil Arora added 35 runs but wickets kept falling at intervals. Henrik Klaasen also failed to make an impact and was lbw by Yash Raj Panja while attempting an attacking shot. The lower middle order tried to counter-attack but the target proved too big. Sunrisers Hyderabad were bowled out for 196 runs in 19.2 overs. Rajasthan Royals will now face Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 2 on Friday for a place in the IPL 2026 final.
