Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Does It Again — RR Beat LSG by 7 Wickets to Stay Alive in IPL 2026 Playoffs Race
A 15-year-old with a strike rate of 245. A 109-run opening stand from LSG. A breathtaking chase in Jaipur. Here's everything that happened as Rajasthan Royals beat Lucknow Super Giants by 7 wickets in Match 64 of IPL 2026.
There are nights in cricket when a teenager reminds you that the game is entering a brand new era.
Tuesday night in Jaipur was one of those nights.
Rajasthan Royals needed to beat Lucknow Super Giants to stay alive in the IPL 2026 playoffs race. LSG gave them a mountain to climb — 221 runs to chase, built on a blistering 109-run opening stand and a near-century from Mitchell Marsh. For the better part of the first innings, it looked like LSG were on their way to a result that would save their increasingly desperate season.
And then a 15-year-old walked to the crease and made a mockery of the whole thing.
Rajasthan Royals beat Lucknow Super Giants by seven wickets at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur. They move to fourth on the IPL 2026 points table. And Vaibhav Sooryavanshi — fifteen years old and batting like he has absolutely nothing to fear — is fast becoming the most exciting young cricketer on the planet.
LSG's Innings: Marsh and Inglis Set the Platform
Rajasthan Royals won the toss and chose to bowl first. If that decision looked questionable by the end of the powerplay, it looked even more so by the ninth over.
Mitchell Marsh and Josh Inglis were simply electric from the first ball. The two Australians took the attack to the RR bowlers right from the start, never allowing them to settle into any kind of rhythm. The duo stitched together a blazing 109-run opening stand in just 50 balls — one of the most destructive powerplay partnerships you'll see all season.
Inglis was the more fluent of the two early on, comfortable square of the wicket and behind it, whipping, scooping and driving with the confidence of a man in the form of his life. He brought up his fifty off just 23 balls just after the powerplay and by the time he was dismissed for 60 off 29 balls, LSG had 109 on the board in barely nine overs. RR's attack, worryingly, went wicketless in the powerplay for the fourth successive game.
It was wristspinner Yash Raj Punia who finally provided the breakthrough, bowling Inglis with a cleverly disguised wrong'un on a tricky length. Punia was the pick of the RR bowlers all evening, finishing with 2/35 from his four overs — disciplined, probing, and smart with his variations.
Marsh, meanwhile, kept going. The big Australian played a commanding knock of 96 off 57 balls, anchoring the innings while wickets tumbled around him and running out of partners only towards the end. He and Rishabh Pant put on a crucial 64-run partnership to steer LSG towards a genuinely competitive total after Punia had applied the brakes in the middle overs. Nicholas Pooran contributed 16 before falling to Punia's second strike.
The final over was a dramatic one. Marsh, having done all the hard work and needing just four more runs for his century, ran himself out on the penultimate ball — a heartbreaking end to what had been a superb knock. Then Jofra Archer, bowling that final over, clean bowled Ayush Badoni first ball to end the innings on 220/5.
It was a good total. On any given night, 221 in Jaipur is a stiff chase. But RR's batting lineup had other ideas.
The Chase: Sooryavanshi Steals the Show
Chasing 221, Rajasthan Royals came out swinging.
With regular captain Riyan Parag missing the match due to a hamstring strain, Yashasvi Jaiswal led the side — and led from the front. He was the aggressor in the opening exchanges, smashing four boundaries in the very first over off Akash Singh to set a fearless tone for the chase. He continued in the same vein in the fourth over, finding four more boundaries to keep RR well ahead of the required rate. By the end of the powerplay, RR had 71 on the board without loss — Jaiswal responsible for 39 of those runs.
But Sooryavanshi was coming.
When Jaiswal fell for 43 off 23 balls — dismissed by Akash Singh just after the powerplay — it briefly handed LSG a lifeline. They had reduced RR to their first wicket, and with the asking rate ticking up, there was a moment where the game opened up.
And then the 15-year-old from Jharkhand took over.
What followed was one of the most breathtaking innings of IPL 2026. Sooryavanshi, measured at first on 25 off 16 balls by the end of the powerplay, shifted into a completely different gear once Jaiswal departed. He reverse-swept his way to a fifty off just 23 balls. He launched sixes that cleared the ropes without seeming to require any great effort. He smashed 10 sixes in total in an innings of 93 off 38 balls — a strike rate of nearly 245. He made LSG's bowlers look helpless, the total look small, and the chase look easy.
Only Mohsin Khan could stop him, dismissing him in the 14th over for 93 — just seven short of what would have been a stunning century. By then, though, it was far too late for LSG to harbour any realistic hopes. RR were cruising.
Dhruv Jurel — who scored his fifth fifty of the season — and Donovan Ferreira calmly finished the job, knocking off the remaining runs with an over to spare. RR won by seven wickets, reaching the target of 221 in 19.1 overs.
Key Performances at a Glance
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (RR) — 93 off 38 balls. 10 sixes. Strike rate of 245. Third fifty of the season. At 15 years old, he is doing things in T20 cricket that seasoned internationals can't manage.
Mitchell Marsh (LSG) — 96 off 57 balls. Led LSG's batting from the front and deserved a century. The run-out on the penultimate ball of the innings will hurt, but it was a magnificent knock in a losing cause.
Josh Inglis (LSG) — 60 off 29 balls. The Australian wicketkeeper-batter was electric in the powerplay and gave LSG their explosive start.
Yashasvi Jaiswal (RR) — 43 off 23 balls as captain. Set the tone for the chase with fearless intent from ball one.
Yash Raj Punia (RR) — 2/35 from 4 overs. The standout bowler for RR, providing crucial breakthroughs at key moments and being promoted from net bowler to main squad on the back of his impressive form.
Dhruv Jurel (RR) — An unbeaten fifty — his fifth of the season — to see RR home. The quiet finisher doing his job perfectly.
Jofra Archer (RR) — A sensational final over that yielded two wickets and kept LSG's total in check at a crucial moment.
What This Result Means
For Rajasthan Royals: They end their three-match losing streak at exactly the right time. With seven wins from 13 games, they jump to fourth place on the IPL 2026 points table and are now firmly in the driving seat for a playoff berth. The equation is beautifully simple: win their final league game against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede on Sunday, May 24, and a playoff spot is guaranteed.
For Lucknow Super Giants: The picture keeps getting darker. This is their ninth defeat in 13 matches, and they are now firmly rooted to the bottom of the table. The wooden spoon is a real possibility. With their playoff hopes extinguished, the remaining game is essentially a dead rubber — and questions will be asked about what went wrong in a season that promised so much more.
The Sooryavanshi Story — Why Everyone Is Talking About Him
There is a moment in every generation of cricket when a young player arrives and forces you to recalibrate what you thought was possible.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is 15 years old. He is playing in the Indian Premier League — the richest, most competitive T20 cricket competition on the planet — and he is not just surviving. He is dominating. His strike rate of nearly 245 in tonight's innings did not come through reckless slogging. It came through clean hitting, smart shot selection, and a composure under pressure that players twice his age often lack.
Three fifties in a season. An innings tonight where he took a chase of 221 and reduced it to a training drill. A reverse sweep off a spinner for his fifty that any established international batter would be proud of.
He will play for India. That is not a prediction — it is a formality. The only question is how soon.
What's Next
Rajasthan Royals face Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday, May 24 in their final league game. A win means a guaranteed top-four finish and a playoff spot. It's a massive game — and on tonight's evidence, with Sooryavanshi in this form, you wouldn't bet against them.
Lucknow Super Giants face their final game knowing the season is over. The focus now shifts to an end-of-season review, rebuilding conversations, and working out where it all went wrong for a team that had the pieces to do far more than a ninth-place finish.
Follow Extra Time Updates for continuing coverage of IPL 2026 as the playoff race enters its final stretch.
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