Vaibhav Sooryavanshi made Indian Premier League history as the Rajasthan Royals cruised to a 47-run victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Eliminator.

The 15-year-old hit the joint-fastest 50 in an IPL playoff and came within a ball of knocking down the quickest century in the competition's history, falling just short on 97 runs.

Sooryavanshi took centre stage from the start in Mullanpur, with he and Yashasvi Jaiswal (29) putting together a 125-run opening stand.

The teenager was just three runs away from notching up three figures in a record-breaking 29 balls, but he sliced straight to Ravichandran Smaran, who finally claimed Sunrisers' first wicket.

Dhruv Jurel also scored 50, while captain Riyan Parag chipped in with 26 as the Royals finished on 243-8.

Sunrisers' chase was dented from only the second ball of their innings, with Abhisek Sharma caught by Jurel for a duck, while Ishan Kishan (33), Smaran (one), Travis Head (17) and Heinrich Klaasen (18) were also dismissed inside the opening seven overs.

Skipper Pat Cummins (one) was also caught by Jofra Archer after just two deliveries and, despite the best efforts of Nitish Kumar Reddy (38) and Salil Arora (35), SRH finished well short of their target and were all out with four balls remaining.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi soars past Chris Gayle's record for the most sixes in a season

Simply extraordinary. pic.twitter.com/SIBoS1yayX

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) May 27, 2026

Data Debrief: Sooryavanshi surpasses Gayle

The Royals have set up a Qualifier 2 showdown with Gujarat Titans on Friday, for the right to play Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the final.

Sooryavanshi was the star, taking just 16 balls to equal Suresh Raina's record for the joint-fastest half-century in an Indian Premier League playoff match.

His 12 sixes took his tally for the 2026 IPL to 65, surpassing Chris Gayle (59 in 2012) for the most in a single season in the competition. 

However, Gayle's century after just 30 balls for RCB against Pune Warriors in 2013 remains the quickest in tournament history, after Sooryavanshi agonisingly missed out.