India wonderkid Vaibhav Sooryavanshi struck a brilliant 93 off 38 balls as Rajasthan Royals beat Lucknow Super Giants to boost their chances of reaching the Indian Premier League play-offs.
The 15-year-old hit 10 sixes in another staggering innings with which he moved back to the top of the tournament’s run-scoring charts. Of Sooryavanshi’s 93 runs, 88 came from boundaries as he dominated the already-eliminated Super Giants.
He looked certain to score his second century of the campaign, only to mistime a shot off Mohsin Khan to Abdul Samad in the deep.
Earlier in the day, India selector Ajit Agarkar had spoken about Sooryavanshi’s omission from the national team’s one-day squad to face Afghanistan next month.
There have been growing calls for the teenager to be called up to the India white-ball sides but he has instead been named in an India A squad to tour Sri Lanka after the IPL finishes.
“We picked him for the India A team because he is young and immensely promising,” said Agarkar.
“The idea is to give these youngsters exposure. Yashasvi Jaiswal is already part of the ODI set-up as well. As impressive as Sooryavanshi has been, there are others who have performed strongly too.
“We are very excited about him and hopefully he can showcase his talent when he travels with the A team.”
The Royals slowed down once Sooryavanshi fell but Dhruv Jurel (53* off 38) ensured a victory that moves them into fourth in the table. It means a win against Mumbai Indians in their final match will seal a spot in the knockouts.
Earlier, Mitchell Marsh crunched 96 off 57 balls to continue his good form for Super Giants, putting on 109 for the first wicket with fellow Australian Josh Inglis (60 off 29).
England’s Jofra Archer was the pick of the hosts’ bowlers with 1-39, while he also ran out Rishabh Pant.
