Vaibhav Sooryavanshi smashed 93 off 38 balls, including 10 sixes, as Rajasthan Royals chased down Lucknow Super Giants’ 220-5 and finished at 225-3 in 19.1 overs, beating LSG by seven wickets with five balls to spare.
Lucknow had posted 220-5 in their 20 overs, built on Mitchell Marsh’s 96 off 57 balls and Josh Inglis’s 60 off 29. Marsh and Inglis gave LSG a competitive total, but the Royals’ reply was dominated by Sooryavanshi and a steady finish from Dhruv Jurel, who finished 53 not out off 38 balls.
Sooryavanshi’s assault included 10 sixes and 88 runs from boundaries in a knock that revived the chase; Jurel’s unbeaten 53 completed the platform for the Royals to reach 225-3 in 19.1 overs. In the field, Jofra Archer returned figures of 1-39 and also ran out Rishabh Pant as the bowling attack tried to stem the run flow. For Lucknow, Mohsin Khan took 1-31 and Punja finished with 2-35.
The win moved Rajasthan Royals into fourth place in the table. With one match remaining, the Royals will seal a knockout spot if they beat Mumbai Indians in their final match.
The result carried extra context from earlier in the day: before this match Sooryavanshi had already led the season for six-hitting, with 53 sixes – 15 more than anyone else. Also earlier, India selector Ajit Agarkar named him in an India A squad to tour Sri Lanka and left him out of India’s one-day squad to face Afghanistan next month.
Ajit Agarkar said the A-team pick was meant to give exposure to promising youngsters and that Sooryavanshi’s selection reflected that plan. He added that others had performed strongly as well and expressed excitement at the prospect of the youngster showcasing his talent on the A-team tour.
The day produced a clear tension: Sooryavanshi was omitted from the one-day national squad yet named for India A, and within hours he produced one of the tournament’s most explosive knocks. That sequence—national omission, A-team pick and then an immediate statement innings—leaves selectors and the Royals with a fresh problem of their own.
Rajasthan’s victory was decisive against an already-eliminated Lucknow Super Giants side; the Royals’ win also pushed Sooryavanshi back to the forefront of the tournament’s run-scorers. Now the single most consequential question is simple and immediate: can Rajasthan beat Mumbai Indians in their final match to secure a place in the knockouts?
