At one point in the fourth over, Vaibhav Suryavanshi had made 11 runs off 12 balls. For a fifteen-year-old who has spent this IPL season hitting sixes that grown men with fifteen more years of experience have never managed, 11 off 12 felt like something was wrong. The crowd at Sawai Mansingh Stadium — his home crowd, the people who have watched him grow up — could feel it too.
Then Akash Singh overpitched. Suryavanshi drove him through covers for four. Then another. Then a reverse sweep for two. Suddenly he was 23 off 16, and the innings that had looked like it might belong to the cautious category — the careful, measured knock — had become something else entirely.
He finished with 93 off 38 balls. Six fours. Eight sixes. His 48th six of the IPL 2026 season — more than any Rajasthan Royals batter has ever hit in a single IPL campaign, surpassing Jos Buttler's record of 45 set in 2022. And when Dhruv Jurel hit the six off Prince Yadav that sealed the chase with five balls to spare, the number on the scoreboard read 225 for 3. Rajasthan Royals had chased down 221 — Lucknow Super Giants' 220 for 5 had been one of the better first innings of IPL 2026's final week — with seven wickets and nearly a full over to spare.
After three consecutive defeats that had threatened to end their season before the final week had even properly begun, Rajasthan Royals are alive. They are fourth on the IPL 2026 points table with 14 points from 13 matches. And the equation, for the first time in three weeks, could not be simpler: beat Mumbai Indians on Sunday, and they are in the playoffs.
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