At the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, playing on the home ground, 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi delivered a record-breaking performance that propelled Rajasthan Royals (RR) to a commanding eight-wicket victory over Gujarat Titans (GT).
Confident Start By The Titans
Having lost close matches, facing match fixing accusations and languishing on the 9th position, RR won the toss and put in the in-form GT to bat first. Shubman Gill (84 off 50 balls), Jos Buttler (50* off 26 balls) and Sai Sudharsan (39 off 30 balls), who won the Orange Cap, helped GT go past the 200-run mark, to set a target of 210.
Prince Bats For The win
Just like the Prince of Kolkata, the prince of Jaipur, the left handed batter, 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi smashed the star-studded Gujarat Titans bowling attack all around the ground to complete his century off just 35 balls. He started off with a six off Mohammed Siraj’s bowling and reached his century also by hitting a six off Rashid Khan’s delivery. On his way to the century he hit Karim Janat for 30 runs in one over. Vaibhav became the second fastest centurion in the IPL after Chris Gayle (30 balls) and the fastest by an Indian in IPL.
Yashasvi Jaiswal, with 70* off 40 balls and Riyan Parag with 32* off 15, finished off the match for RR, reaching the mammoth total of 210 with ease.
Talking Points
● Shubman Gill, in a post match interview mentioned that luck was on Suryavanshi’s side. For this he got the flack from many quarters as they believed he was not giving credit where it was due to Suryavanshi.
● Rahul Dravid, rose up from his wheelchair to give a standing ovation to Suryavanshi when he hit his century. It was not that long ago that Dravid, on VVS Laxman’s recommendation had given the 14 year old a chance to play for the RR in IPL, which has paid off royally!
While this match has not affected the points table much, it was nevertheless a match that will go
down in history. Will Suryavanshi be India’s next Sachin?!
