Vaibhav Sooryavanshi delivered a spectacular 93 from just 38 deliveries, guiding Rajasthan Royals to a commanding seven-wicket victory over Lucknow Super Giants in their IPL 2026 encounter at Jaipur on Tuesday. The teenager’s explosive innings featured 11 boundaries and five maximums as RR successfully hunted down the 221-run target with five balls to spare. Earlier in the day, Mitchell Marsh’s devastating 57-ball 96 had propelled LSG to 220 for five. After being asked to bat first, opener Marsh combined with Josh Inglis (60 from 29 deliveries) for a crucial 109-run partnership in just 50 balls. Marsh later joined forces with captain Rishabh Pant (35) to add 64 runs from 42 balls during the closing stages. RR’s leg-spinner Yash Raj Punja claimed two scalps for 35 runs. Rajasthan Royals’ playoff campaign gets boost from Sooryavanshi’s fearless batting.
TOSS
Rajasthan Royals won the coin flip and elected to bowl first.
PLAYING XI
Lucknow Super Giants (Playing XI):
Mitchell Marsh, Josh Inglis, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Ayush Badoni, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Mohsin Khan, Mayank Yadav, Akash Maharaj Singh, Prince Yadav
Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI):
Yashasvi Jaiswal(c), Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Dhruv Jurel(w), Donovan Ferreira, Shubham Dubey, Dasun Shanaka, Jofra Archer, Sushant Mishra, Sandeep Sharma, Brijesh Sharma, Yash Raj Punja
LUCKNOW SUPER GIANTS
Building on his impressive 90 against CSK, Marsh struck form once again, partnering with Inglis to establish an excellent foundation for a formidable score. The Australian opener started aggressively, driving Jofra Archer over the covers before dispatching a six over mid-off. Inglis caused early havoc, unleashing against Sushant Mishra’s left-arm pace with a massive 99-meter six. He then savaged Sandeep Sharma’s bowling, collecting two sixes and three fours within six deliveries across the bowler’s two powerplay spells.
Meanwhile, Marsh targeted Brijesh Sharma, collecting 14 runs from his first over. Inglis dominated the powerplay, smashing 49 from 22 balls as LSG reached 83. He completed a lightning-fast fifty against Yash Raj Punja but fell to the same bowler next over, ending their magnificent 109-run partnership in the ninth over.
Marsh, who became LSG’s first player to score 500-plus runs in consecutive IPL campaigns, remained stuck in the late forties briefly before reaching his second straight half-century in merely 25 balls. Mishra leaked three boundaries to the left-hander in the 12th over, though Punja responded by removing Nicholas Pooran after his quick-fire 16-run cameo featuring two sixes. Captain Pant initially struggled, going boundary-less for his first 10 balls before breaking free with a straight six off Brijesh in the 16th over. At 182/2, LSG appeared set for a 250-plus total, but excellent death bowling restricted them to 220.
Archer’s return for two overs at the death proved crucial, conceding only one boundary each to the established pair before returning for the final over to halt their momentum by dismissing both batsmen. Marsh narrowly missed his second IPL century of the season, but the late slowdown gave RR an opening they seized completely.
RAJASTHAN ROYALS
Yashasvi Jaiswal took charge during the 75-run opening partnership with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, launching the chase with three consecutive boundaries off Akash Singh in an expensive 23-run over. Mohsin Khan and Mayank Yadav momentarily slowed the scoring with economical spells, but Jaiswal quickly responded, attacking Mohsin with a sequence of 6, 4, 4, 4 in his second over that cost 19 runs overall. Sooryavanshi began his assault in the powerplay’s final over, though Jaiswal had already established the ideal platform for the middle-over carnage that followed.
RR’s 15-year-old prodigy seized control in the sixth over against Prince Yadav, announcing his arrival with a brilliant ramp shot over Rishabh Pant for six. Though he lost Jaiswal to Akash Singh after the field restrictions ended, Sooryavanshi accelerated dramatically. When Akash bowled his next over, the youngster created absolute chaos: 6, 4, 0, 4, 6, wd, wd, 4 – a devastating 26-run assault that signaled his intent. After reaching his fifty in just 23 balls, he launched a Digvesh Rathi googly into the long-off stands before demolishing Prince again, sending the over’s final two deliveries soaring over opposite boundaries.
Partnering with Dhruv Jurel, Sooryavanshi maintained the relentless pressure. Mayank’s third over vanished for 29 runs as both batsmen struck two sixes apiece to seize complete control. Rathi suffered another punishment before Mohsin finally outsmarted the teenager with a slower delivery, preventing what could have been a memorable century. Sooryavanshi departed after the 14th over following his breathtaking 93, having shouldered the bulk of the responsibility and leaving RR needing just 41 from 36 balls with Jurel well-settled.
Brief scores:
Lucknow Super Giants 220/5 in 20 overs [Mitchell Marsh 96 off 57, Josh Inglis 60 off 29, Rishabh Pant 35 off 23; Yash Raj Punjab 2-35] lost to Rajasthan Royals 225/3 in 19.1 overs [Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 93 off 38, Dhruv Jurel 53* off 38, Yashasvi Jaiswal 43 off 23; Mohsin Khan 1-31] by 7 wickets.
About the Author
