Rajasthan Royals stormed into the second qualifier of IPL 2026 after defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad by 47 runs in the Eliminator on Wednesday. The night belonged to 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who put RR in complete control of the contest with 97 off just 29 balls. Chasing a place in Qualifier 2, Rajasthan Royals first compiled 243 for eight after Sooryavanshi shredded SRH’s bowling attack in one of the most devastating overs of the season. The youngster smashed 12 runs and came within striking distance of Chris Gayle’s record for the fastest hundred in the Indian Premier League. Gayle reached his century in 30 balls, while Sooryavanshi fell for 97 after facing just 29 deliveries. The left-hander attacked from the start and left Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Pat Cummins searching for answers.
Anything full disappeared straight onto the ground, while short balls were clipped and dragged into the stands. Sooryavanshi reached his fifty in just 16 balls, eight of which were sixes. His opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal watched mostly from the other end and scored 29 off 29 balls. By the time Sooryavanshi was dismissed by Praful Hinge in the eighth over, Rajasthan Royals had already raced to 125 in just eight overs.
The teenager also broke Chris Gayle’s record for the most number of sixes in a single IPL season. He now has 65 sixes this season, surpassing Gayle’s tally of 59.
Dhruv Gurriel then moved the innings forward with a quick 50 off 21 balls, his sixth half-century of the season. Rajasthan Royals looked set to make a bigger total at 180 for two in 13 overs, but Sunrisers Hyderabad fought back at the death overs. SRH picked up five wickets for 36 runs in the last five overs to prevent RR from crossing the 260-run mark. However, the damage has already been done. Pat Cummins finished with expensive figures of 0 for 64 in four overs. Saqib Hossain gave away 49 runs in his three overs, while Praful Heng took three wickets but conceded 54 runs. Eshan Malinga also struggled, while wrist spinner Shivang Kumar impressed and picked up the wicket of Jaiswal. In response, Sunrisers Hyderabad never really recovered after losing wickets in the powerplay. Jofra Archer delivered key blows on the power play removing Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Travis Head.
Archer’s final numbers read 4-0-58-3. Although he leaked runs later in the innings, his share of the biggest winners in the match for SRH proved crucial. Ishan Kishan scored 33 runs while Nitish Kumar Reddy scored 38 to keep SRH in the hunt for a brief period. Salil Arora added 35 runs, but wickets kept falling at regular intervals. Heinrich Klaasen also failed to make an impact and was caught by Yash Raj Ponga while trying to shoot. The Lower Middle Order tried to launch a counterattack, but the target was too large. Sunrisers Hyderabad were eventually bowled out for 196 in 19.2 overs. Rajasthan Royals will now take on Gujarat Titans in the second qualifier on Friday for a place in the IPL 2026 final.