सूर्यवंशी और आर्चर की प्रतिभा ने राजस्थान के आईपीएल ट्रॉफी के सपने को जीवित रखा है

The Rajasthan Royals (RR) will face the Gujarat Titans (GT) in Qualifier 2 for the opportunity to take on the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 final. The 2008 champions had lost the five previous encounters to the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), including the Qualifier 2 in 2024, and came clutch in the biggest match of the season.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi special in New Chandigarh

Put in to bat first, the crowd was treated with a Vaibhav Sooryavanshi special. The 15-year-old broke Chris Gayle’s record of most sixes in an IPL season, smashed the joint-fastest half-century in Playoffs history, became the first batter to score 600 runs in a season at a strike rate of over 200, nearly struck the fastest IPL hundred, and overtook Sai Sudharsan to claim the Orange Cap.

His 97 (29) came in just 8 overs, and Rajasthan were 125/1 with 12 overs left. Barring Dhruv Jurel, who struck a 20-ball fifty, and a Riyan Parag cameo of 26 (12), no other RR batter showed up. As a result, Rajasthan ended up scoring just 243. They were 207/3 with 5 overs left, but managed just 36 in the last 30 balls. That turned out to be enough.

Jofra Archer kills the game

Chasing 244 wasn’t going to be easy, but considering the surface and SRH’s strong batting line-up, it was well within reach. But Jofra Archer ended all such hopes. He bounced Abhishek Sharma out on the second ball of the innings and had the last laugh over Ishan Kishan. Riyan Parag persisted with Archer, and he knocked Travis Head as well. Nandre Burger chipped in, and SRH were 4 wickets down by the end of the powerplay.

The game was pretty much over when Kishan walked back. But SRH kept fighting. Nitish Kumar Reddy and Salil Arora both struck 30s, and Shivang Kumar battled through cramps to bat until just 4 balls remained. They dragged the game, but Rajasthan ended up winning by 47 runs.

Now, Rajasthan will take a rest day and face Gujarat at the same venue in 48 hours. Considering they’ve played at the venue and all signs suggest the game will be high-scoring, they might have an edge over Shubman Gill’s team.