Teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi once again excelled in the Indian Premier League with a brilliant 96 off 47 balls in the second qualifier on Friday.
On Wednesday, the 15-year-old smashed 97 from just 29 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad to get Rajasthan Royals to this stage.
This time, with a place in Sunday’s final at stake, Sooryavanshi, again held his team together with a more measured knock that was equally as eye-catching.
Put in to bat, Royals slipped to 9-2 against the excellent Gujarat opening bowlers Mohammed Siraj and Kagiso Rabada.
Sooryavanshi struggled to time the ball, playing and missing a number of times, but he dug in and struck the first of seven sixes off his 14th delivery – a stunning straight six off Rabada.
Titans eventually resorted to short-pitched bowling and Rabada hit Sooryavanshi on the helmet when he was on 56 off 32.
From there, a switch seemed to flick and the left-hander struck 39 runs off his next 14 balls before being dismissed via a high catch at third from a mistimed slap.
By the time he had fallen, Royals had reached 176-6 with 16 balls to spare. They eventually posted 214-6, Donovan Ferreira striking 38 off 11.
However it was Sooryavanshi’s ability to stand up to some hostile fast bowling which caught the eye with former West Indies paceman Ian Bishop saying some teams are already “down to Plan Z” against him.
Sooryavanshi has been netting against teammate and England fast bowler Jofra Archer in practice sessions and despite being dismissed four times by the short ball this season, his strike-rate against it has risen to 307, with 23 sixes.
“He [Sooryavanshi] has talked about his battles in the nets with Jofra Archer,” said former West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop.
“Both of them go head to head, full steam. I know a lot of batters who don’t like to face fast bowling in the nets at practice time but he has not backed down. Archer goes at him and he goes at Archer.”
More to follow.
