Rajasthan Royals 202 for 4 (Jurel 81*, Sooryavanshi 78, Krunal 2-30, Hazlewood 2-44) beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru 201 for 8 (Patidar 63, Kohli 32, Bishnoi 2-32, Archer 2-33, Brijesh 2-37) by six wickets
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi equalled his record for the fastest half-century, off 15 balls, in a six-fest on a flat Guwahati deck as Rajasthan Royals walloped Royal Challengers Bengaluru for their fourth straight win in IPL 2026.
RCB hit seven sixes through their 20 overs in an innings where they went all out, seemingly mindful of the challenge Sooryavanshi would pose later. And pose he did, hitting seven sixes off his own blade in a scarcely believable exhibition of brutal hitting.
Reputation counted for little. If it was Jasprit Bumrah the other night, it was Josh Hazlewood's turn to come under Sooryavanshi's wheel on Friday. By the time he was dismissed for a 26-ball 78, toe-ending a flat-batted hit to long-on off Krunal Pandya, RR's asking rate in a 202-run chase was just over six with 11.5 overs remaining.
Sooryavanshi's uninhibited hitting was matched by Dhruv Jurel's scintillating stroke play, the pair effectively snuffing out RCB's hopes in the powerplay itself as they plundered 97 - the highest of the season. Although RR lost a couple of wickets in a rush thereafter, the result was never really in doubt.
Sooryavanshi's wild ride
RCB's defence was given an early lift when the returning Hazlewood struck in the second over to remove Yashasvi Jaiswal - after conceding a couple of sixes off the short ball, Hazlewood responded by going cross-seam and into the pitch to induce the edge. But the delight at having struck early disappeared quickly as Sooryavanshi seized control by rattling off three boundaries and a six in succession in Hazlewood's next over.
Rayudu says he is "very, very smart"
Each of the four boundaries pierced a different arc. The short ball was carved behind point, the hard length into the pitch was muscled over mid-on, the fuller one driven crisply between cover and mid-off, and when tested with the bouncer, Sooryavanshi fetched it from outside off and nailed the pull over deep square for six.
And remarkably, it wasn't just Hazlewood under the pump. Bhuvneshwar Kumar - who had nearly dismissed him first ball with a late-curving inswinging yorker, only for the teenager to dig it out and shovel it straight back for four - was also taken apart. In the fifth over, Sooryavanshi swatted Bhuvneshwar for back-to-back sixes to bring up his half-century.
Jurel matches Sooryavanshi
Keeping pace with Sooryavanshi stroke for stroke can't be easy, but Jurel managed it without fuss, without ever looking like he was trying to. He capped off the powerplay by hitting rookie Abhinandan Singh for a sequence of 4, 6, 4, 0, 6, 4 to end an extraordinary passage of play.
Jurel's fast hands were the defining feature of that over - whether it was picking length early to pull or using his wrists to whip the ball into the top tier over deep square. He would later take charge of the innings, tightening his approach after a flurry of wickets, and finishing unbeaten on 81 off 43 balls.
Ambati Rayudu and Aaron Finch on the batter's knock
Jurel's 68-run fifth-wicket stand with Ravindra Jadeja then guided RR home comfortably, steadying things after Krunal briefly stirred RCB's hopes with back-to-back strikes of Sooryavanshi and Shimron Hetmyer in the ninth over.
RR went through a quiet passage of four overs without a boundary, but the early onslaught from Sooryavanshi and Jurel meant they could afford to play out a few quiet overs knowing RCB were a spinner short, as they activated Venkatesh Iyer as an impact player in place of Suyash Sharma.
Archer's fire
Earlier, the match had a blockbuster opening act, with Jofra Archer's vicious, rip-roaring bouncer sending back Phil Salt for a golden duck. But Virat Kohli fought fire with fire, hitting him for three boundaries in his next over, before Archer struck back to remove the in-form Devdutt Padikkal.
This didn't affect Kohli, though, as he shredded a much-talked-about matchup with Sandeep Sharma (who had dismissed him seven times in 18 innings) by thumping him over the infield for two fours. But trouble soon came RCB's way as Ravi Bishnoi struck two quick blows to leave them 73 for 4.
Patidar charge not enough
In his first two outings, Rajat Patidar went crash-bang-wallop from the get-go. But a top-order wobble here forced him to dig deep. He played himself in, getting to 20 off 22 balls at one stage. And then, three overs later, he brought up a half-century off 35 balls. One of the reasons for this surge was the assurance in his stroke-making.
The two sixes he hit off Nandre Burger in the 15th over had that stamp of authority. A gentle extension of his arms to loft one cleanly over long-off laid down the marker, but the hop back to whip a short ball aimed at his ribs over deep square-leg was the real thing.
With neither of Romario Shepherd and Tim David coming off with the bat, RCB brought in Venkatesh as their impact player, leaving Suyash on the bench. And Venkatesh gave an excellent account of himself on RCB debut, finishing the innings off with 29 not out in 15 balls that pushed them past 200.
As it turned out, it was nowhere near enough.
