Vaibhav steals thunder on a night of rain and twists to extend RR’s winning streak
A contest rain threatened to wash away ended up producing a mass entertainer, replete with thrills and chills. Royal Challengers Bengaluru breezed to 58 for 2 in 4.4, slumped to 94 for six, recovered to put on 201; Rajasthan Royals waltzed to 129 for 1 in 8 overs, sank to 134 for 4. The climax was not quite cinematic, but the Friday crowd were genuinely engaged.
What Vaibhav Sooryavanshi does should be illegal. He can’t drive, or drink, or vote, but he could hit the perfect six, he can make bowlers twice his age wince, and he can suspend the audience into disbelief.
The most mind-boggling aspect of his rise has been the ability to demystify reputations. Jasprit Bumrah defanged, he demolished Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood on Friday. The first ball he faced, from Bhuvneshwar, he shovelled him for a four down the ground with the ferocious whirr of his fast hands. Up next was Hazlewood, the bowling mastermind of RCB’s title triumph. The first ball was hard length, holding the line and stifling him for room. He was already committed to the cut; he didn’t change his mind. He chopped the ball from an impossible angle behind backward point.
More spellbinding strokes followed. At the end of it, Hazlewood just looked blankly into the skies. The next ball landed on good length, and he cudgelled it over mid-on. A hurt Hazlewood went fuller, whereupon Suryavanshi fleeced it through covers. The best was yet to be, when a short ball out of sheer frustration, ended up in the stands over deep square leg. In four overs, RR had already shaved off one-fourth of the target.
1️⃣5️⃣ years of age. 1️⃣5️⃣ deliveries for a half-century 🤯
🎥 Vaibhav Sooryavanshi taking on the best in the business with ease 🤌
What a special talent 💎
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The barrage of boundaries was ceaseless. Bhuvneshwar was recommissioned to little effect. Sooryavanshi greeted him with a six over mid-on, and then wore a Buddha-like expression of calm, as if this was simply a trailer of grander feats to arrive. A shuddered Bhuvneshwar stood helpless, as Sooryavanshi, a toddler when he made his India debut, thrashed him for a brace of fours.
The stingless Abhinandan Singh was introduced, only to be caned by Dhruv Jurel, who plundered 24 runs of the over. RR’s powerplay score read an unfathomable 97 for 1. All they could do was shuffle their bowlers and hope something worked. A misjudgment, a moment of indiscretion. Only boundaries whistled past them. The next two overs bled 32 runs as the world stood stuck at the genius of the 15-year-old.
The impetus his knock infused was such that RR could afford to drop their gears and still win the game. Not to forget Jurel’s imperious knock of 81, where he showed veins of ice and awareness of the situation to steer RR home.
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Rain and twists
After the rain and delayed start, twists and turns poured in a passage of wild fluctuations, strewn with drama, strokes and wickets. In the first four-and-a-half overs, until Virat Kohli’s extravagant cover drive, his gate agape, ended with his stumps shattered by the resurgent Ravi Bishnoi, the stars gleed at the defending champions. Catches were spilled, the swinging ball hissed past cowering bats, in between boundaries flew; Kohli essayed gorgeous strokes, through the covers as well as behind the stumps, harnessing the bowlers’ pace.
In 4.4 overs, RCB swept to 58 for 2, nearly 12 runs an over. But the next ball changed the game around. Bishnoi then twinkled out Krunal Pandya, caught acrobatically by Shimron Hetmyer, his second catch diving forward. Wickets kept tumbling. Medium pacer Brijesh Sharma ejected Jitesh Sharma, and later Tim David. After 11 overs, RCB tottered to 94 for six. But RCB bat so deep that they still had two men capable of inflicting damage. So Romario Shepherd and Rajat Patidar did, and stitched a momentum-imparting stand of 31 off 18 balls. Shepherd departed, but RCB summoned Impact Sub Venkatesh Iyer. The move, though, meant that they were short of bowling options.
Counter-attacking at its best 🔥
🎥 Rajat Patidar leads the charge with a fighting 5️⃣0️⃣ under immense pressure 👏
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Patidar was the lighthouse of RCB’s hope. He curbed his aggression, weathered the storm and executed an array of glorious strokes, blending power and grace. He has a malleable pair of hands, a velcro-touched gnome when he is at the peak of his prowess. When finally he miscued to deep-wicket for a 40-ball 63, he had dragged his team out of the mess and propelled them to 201. But it took a 15-year-old to topple the defending champions.
Brief Scores: RR 202/4 (Sooryavanshi 78, Jurel 81 not out; K Pandya 2/30) beat RCB 201/4 (Patidar 63, Kohli 32; Bishnoi 2/32) by six wickets
