Vaibhav Sooryavanshi continued his dream IPL 2026 season with another explosive innings for Rajasthan Royals, but his latest knock against Gujarat Titans surprisingly produced an unusual milestone in his short T20 career.The teenage sensation smashed a breathtaking 96 off 47 balls in Qualifier 2 at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur on Friday. His innings, packed with eight fours and seven sixes, powered Rajasthan Royals to a commanding 214/6 in the high-pressure playoff clash.However, despite the aggressive knock, Sooryavanshi ended up recording the slowest half-century of his IPL career.The Rajasthan opener reached his fifty in 28 deliveries, making it the slowest fifty he has scored in the tournament so far. His previous slowest IPL fifty had come off 27 balls against Chennai Super Kings in Delhi last year.The statistic underlines just how destructive Sooryavanshi has been throughout IPL 2026. Before Friday’s innings, five of his previous seven fifty-plus scores had come in 17 balls or fewer, highlighting the fearless attacking style that has made him one of the breakout stars of the season.Even on a comparatively “slower” night by his own standards, the youngster dominated Gujarat’s bowling attack and once again provided Rajasthan Royals with a flying start in a knockout game.Sooryavanshi looked set for a memorable century after tearing apart both pace and spin during the middle overs, but he eventually fell short of the three-figure mark. Still, his innings placed Rajasthan in complete control for most of the innings.The Royals also received crucial finishing contributions from Ravindra Jadeja, who remained unbeaten on 45, and Donovan Ferreira, whose explosive 38 not out came off just 11 balls with four sixes.For Gujarat Titans, Jason Holder emerged as the most economical bowler, finishing with figures of 2/27 in his four overs.Despite missing out on a century again, Sooryavanshi’s innings further strengthened his growing reputation as one of the most dangerous young batters in franchise cricket.
