 "RR have one of the most dangerous opening pairs in the league. Reuters")
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi once again lit up the Indian Premier League (IPL) as he raced to a rapid 15-ball half-century in Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) opening match win over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati.
RR bowlers had bundled out CSK for just 127 thanks to a collective bowling effort. Sooryavanshi then buried the game in the powerplay itself, hitting fours and sixes at will. Ultimately, he was dismissed for 17-ball 52 after scoring not the fastest but one of the fastest fifties in the history of IPL.
What is the fastest 50 in IPL?
The 15-year-old is one of the most exciting talents in the world right now and against the Super Kings, he once again showed why he is rated so highly. On Monday, he completed what is now the third-fastest half-century in IPL.
His opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal holds the record for the fastest IPL fifty which he smashed in just 13 deliveries against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in 2023.
Sooryavanshi also talked about Jaiswal’s role in his fiery half-century. “My opening partner keeps communicating with me after every ball - he tells me when to take singles, keeps giving me the strike, and encourages me to keep playing my shots if the ball is coming nicely onto the bat,” he said after the match
KL Rahul, Pat Cummins and Romario Shepherd have the second-quickest fifties in IPL in 14 balls. Rahul did it in 2018, Cummins achieved the feat in 2022 while Shepherd did it last year. Sooryavanshi, with his 15-ball fifty, has joined Yusuf Pathan, Sunil Narine, Nicholas Pooran and Jake Fraser-McGurk in the list of fastest half-centuries in IPL.
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Before Sooryavanshi killed the chase with his blitzkrieg, RR’s bowling unit had already pushed CSK far behind in the game. Nandre Burger and Jofra Archer both picked up a couple of wickets each and CSK lost four wickets inside the powerplay itself. The procession continued even after the field opened up.
Ravindra Jadeja picked up another couple of wickets while Sandeep Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi and debutant Brijesh Sharma got a wicket each.
Sooryavanshi then fired RR to 74 within the powerplay to almost seal a couple of points for RR. Jaiswal returned unbeaten on 38 as the Royals completed the chase with 47 balls left, their biggest such victory.