New Chandigarh, May 27 (IANS) Wearing the Orange Cap after a breathtaking 28-ball 97 in a high-pressure Eliminator, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi said he consciously shut out the pressure of the occasion and backed his natural game as Rajasthan Royals piled up 243 for 8 against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in New Chandigarh on Wednesday.

“Yes, I had that in my mind,” Sooryavanshi said when asked if the occasion crossed his mind while batting. “My coaches told me to play freely, enjoy the game, and not take any pressure.”

SRH skipper Pat Cummins started with a defensive setup, placing deep square leg and deep midwicket for the teenager while bowling almost all full and straight deliveries. This tactic almost worked for three balls before one overpitched ball disappeared over mid-off for six. RR were 9 without loss after the first over and quickly picked up speed as Eshan Malinga and Sakib Hussain were also taken apart.

Sooryavanshi raced to 50 in 16 balls, matching Suresh Raina’s record for the fastest half-century in an IPL playoff. He also surpassed Chris Gayle for the most sixes in a T20 tournament. By the end of the fourth over, he had scored 36 off 10 balls, and RR were a remarkable 63 without loss.

At the other end, Yashasvi Jaiswal had a strange supporting role, scoring 19 off 16 while watching the teenager dominate every delivery. Sooryavanshi seemed ready to break Gayle’s record for the fastest IPL century, but he top-edged an attempted uppercut off Praful Hinge to deep third on 97. RR were then 125 for 1 after eight overs.

The momentum barely dipped. Dhruv Jurel launched a furious counterattack, reaching a 50 in 20 balls after dismantling Cummins and Shivang Kumar with scoops, pulls, and towering straight hits. RR surged to 192 for 3 in 13.5 overs before wickets started falling in clusters, including Riyan Parag and Dasun Shanaka.

Donovan Ferreira and Ravindra Jadeja added a quick 20 off 12 balls late in the innings, though SRH finished strongly with Nitish Kumar Reddy’s precise wide yorkers and a brilliant boundary catch from Abhishek Sharma to dismiss Jofra Archer.

Despite falling three runs short of a record hundred, Sooryavanshi maintained he was not focused on personal milestones. “No, sir. I played that shot on purpose because I saw where the fielder was standing. I tried to hit it much more square. Had I played the ramp toward third man, it would’ve gone away to the fence,” he said.

–IANS

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