Guwahati: Batting prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's explosive 78 off 26 balls, paired with Dhruv Jurel's composed 81 not out off 43, powered Rajasthan Royals to a commanding six-wicket victory over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in IPL 2026 Match 16 at Guwahati's Barsapara Cricket Stadium on Friday.
Sooryavanshi tore into RCB's attack from the outset, dismantling Bhuvneshwar Kumar with a driven four off a near-yorker and a towering cover-point six. He feasted on Josh Hazlewood next, unleashing a boundary barrage, and adapted seamlessly to length changes with deft skill. Yashasvi Jaiswal chipped in 13 before edging a cross-seam ball, but it barely dented RR's charge. Sooryavanshi blazed to a 15-ball fifty—equalling his record—with consecutive sixes: a muscled long-on blow and a top-edged pull over the ropes.
Dhruv Jurel joined the fray, stroking boundaries effortlessly as RR smashed a record 97/1 in the powerplay—their best in IPL history—and raced past 100 in 6.2 overs, the fastest ever for the franchise. Krunal Pandya halted Sooryavanshi's rampage with a sharp catch to Virat Kohli at deep midwicket, then snaffled Shimron Hetmyer off the next ball at short third man to Hazlewood.
Earlier, RCB's innings sparked dramatically as Jofra Archer's first-ball bouncer felled Phil Salt. Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal hit back with a brisk 45-run stand in 17 balls, but RR hit stride: Archer removed Padikkal, Ravi Bishnoi castled Kohli and trapped Krunal lbw, and Hetmyer's sharp fielding piled on misery. Jitesh Sharma fell soon after, slumping RCB to 76/5 in 8.4 overs.
Romario Shepherd's punchy 22 off 10 offered resistance before Jadeja dismissed him. Debutant Venkatesh Iyer (29 off 15) and Rajat Patidar then revived fortunes, with Patidar accelerating to a brisk fifty featuring meaty sixes before Sandeep Sharma ended his stay. Late hitting from Bhuvneshwar Kumar lifted RCB to 201/8.
RCB clawed back in the middle overs with disciplined bowling—Krunal Pandya starring in a boundary-less spell that trimmed the required rate to seven an over. Jadeja broke a 24-ball drought via an inside edge, but Jurel held firm, reaching fifty off 25 balls. His 68-run stand with Jadeja off 50 balls quelled nerves, steering RR home with two overs spare.
Brief scores: Royal Challengers Bengaluru 201/8 in 20 overs (Rajat Patidar 63, Virat Kohli 32; Ravi Bishnoi 2/32, Jofra Archer 2/33) lost to Rajasthan Royals 202/4 in 18 overs (Dhruv Jurel 81*, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 78; Krunal Pandya 2/40, Josh Hazlewood 2/44) by six wickets.
(Inputs from IANS)