Teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi produced his latest extraordinary innings by hitting 97 from just 29 balls in the Indian Premier League eliminator against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
The 15-year-old struck 12 sixes, including three in a row off Australia captain Pat Cummins, before he was dismissed in the eighth over.
After hitting boundaries off seven balls in succession, he had one delivery to break Chris Gayle’s record for the fastest IPL century but was caught at deep third attempting an upper cut.
Sooryavanshi, who had reached 50 in 16 balls, looked crestfallen in the middle but was congratulated by his opponents and given a standing ovation by the crowd.
His Rajasthan Royals side were 125-1 after eight overs, with opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal, an India international across formats, on 25 from 20 balls at the other end.
“What an innings. What a player,” said India legend Sunil Gavaskar, commentating.
“That is an innings to remember. An innings to savour.”
Sooryavanshi’s knock also took him to the top of this year’s run-scorers’ list in the IPL.
His seventh six, hit in only the fourth over, broke the record for the most sixes in a single IPL season – a record previously held by former West Indies international Gayle with 59.
After Sooryavanshi was dismissed, Sunrisers fought back admirably to restrict Royals to 243-8.
Royals were 192-2 in the 14th over but did not hit a six in the last 31 balls of the innings.
