It was the turn of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to dazzle under the skies of Guwahati. After rain delayed the proceedings for over an hour, the match started as a full game with RCB posting a total of 201 despite being in trouble at one stage. But through Rajat Patidar, Virat Kohli, and later Impact Player Venkatesh Iyer, the RCB team managed to get past 200, scoring 201/8 in 20 overs. It was a competitive score on the board.
But chasing 202 for the win, it was the Vaibhav Sooryavanshi show as his fiery knock of 78 off 26 balls set the tone for the chase, and he was ably supported by Dhruv Jurel, who remained unbeaten on 81 off 43 balls while the partnership between the duo was 108 off 37 balls. Josh Hazlewood is back in the side, and Krunal Pandya picked up 2 wickets apiece for RCB, but it was to no avail as RR made it 4 wins out of 4 games to stay top of the table.
Rajat Patidar’s excellent half-century & Venkatesh Iyer’s cameo powers RCB past 200
Put into bat first in a game delayed due to rain, Phil Salt and Virat Kohli came out to bat for RCB while Jofra Archer had the ball in hand for RR. Archer struck straightaway as he bowled a snorter to dismiss Salt off the first ball of the match to give the home team a perfect start. Devdutt Padikkal came out to bat next. But the wicket did not slow things down for RCB as the batters continued to play their shots. Virat got lucky with a couple of boundaries early on, before playing delightful shots.
Padikkal came out all guns blazing. Virat was also going great guns as both took on RR head-on. They put on 45 for the second wicket in just 17 balls before Padikkal was holed out in the deep off Archer as Shimron Hetmyer took a brilliant catch at deep midwicket. Captain Rajat Patidar came out to bat next. We were still inside the powerplay, as Kohli and Patidar added 13 runs for the third wicket before Kohli fell for 32 off 16 balls with 7 fours to his name as he was cleaned up by Ravi Bishnoi. Krunal Pandya came out to bat next.
At the end of the powerplay, RCB were 61/3 in 6 overs. Soon after the power play, the middle overs phase started with a wicket as Krunal fell for 1 off 6 balls to Ravi Bishnoi. Jitesh Sharma, the keeper-batter, came out to bat next. Jitesh and Rajat tried to resurrect the innings and added 14 runs to the tally before Jitesh fell for 5 off 8 balls to Brijesh Sharma. Tim David came in with RCB having lost half their side for 76 in 8.4 overs. Rajat held one end up and was trying to build a partnership while losing partners at the other end.
David got a few boundaries away and added 18 runs for the 6th wicket before David fell for 13 off 9 balls with 2 fours to his name to Brijesh yet again. Romario Shepherd came out to bat next and was off the blocks quickly, while things slowed down for Rajat at the other end. Shepherd played his game and scored quick runs and added 31 runs for the 7th wicket before the West Indian fell for 22 off 11 balls with 2 fours and one six to his name to Ravindra Jadeja.
At 125/7 in 14 overs, Impact Player Venkatesh Iyer came out to join Patidar in the middle. Patidar changed gears upon the arrival of Iyer and took on the bowling in the end overs. Venkatesh took his time and rotated strike, but Patidar smashed the RR bowlers in the end overs and brought up his fifty as well. Rajat dominated the partnership and added 41 runs in 3.1 overs before Patidar fell for 63 off 40 balls with 4 fours and 4 sixes to his name to Sandeep Sharma. Bhuvneshwar Kumar came out to bat next.
Bhuvneshwar played his part as well by getting a boundary, but the finishing kick was provided by Venkatesh Iyer, the Impact Player. Iyer smashed the bowling and took the game deep. He smashed 21 runs off the final over of the innings that was bowled and took the score past the 200-run mark. RCB ended with 201/8 in 20 overs with Venkatesh unbeaten on 29 off 15 balls with one four and two sixes to his name, while Bhuvneshwar was unbeaten on 9 off 7 balls with one boundary to his name. 13 extras given by the fielding side.
Rajasthan Royals bowlers bowled decently out there in the middle. Ravi Bishnoi was the pick of the bowlers for RR with figures of 2/32 in 4 overs. Brijesh Sharma finished with 2/37 in 4 overs. Jofra Archer finished with 2/33 in 3 overs. Ravindra Jadeja finished with 1/14 in 2 overs. Sandeep Sharma finished with 1/47 in 4 overs. Nandre Burger finished with 0/32 in 3 overs. So, the target for RR to keep their unbeaten run alive was 202 runs to win off 20 overs.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi & Dhruv Jurel crush RCB as RR win with 2 overs to spare
Chasing 202 for the win, Yashasvi Jaiswal and impact player Vaibhav Sooryavanshi opened the batting for RR while Bhuvneshwar Kumar had the ball in hand for RCB. Jaiswal played a couple of lusty blows, but it was the Vaibhav Sooryavanshi show from the start. The opening duo, though, could muster only 21 runs for the first wicket inside 2 overs before Jaiswal fell for 13 off 8 balls with 2 sixes to his name to Josh Hazlewood, making his comeback into the side.
Dhruv Jurel came out to bat next at 3, and the keeper batter joined forces with Vaibhav. From here on, it was all about the teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi as he smashed the RCB bowlers into submission. It did not matter who the bowler was at the other end. Whether it was Josh Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar or Abhinandan Singh, it did not matter as the ball went away to the stands for the maximum. The runs came like a rampaging river as RR smashed 97 runs for the loss of one wicket in 6 overs. Vaibhav finished his half-century off just 15 balls. The duo did not stop there and smashed the Challengers, who did not have any answer to the Vaibhav show.
Jurel was not far behind as he complimented Vaibhav really well from the other end and played his shots as well. The duo put on a century stand as they put on 108 runs off 38 balls for the second wicket as RR raced to 129/1 in 8 overs. At the start of the 9th over, Vaibhav was holed out in the deep by Virat Kohli as Krunal Pandya provided the much-needed breakthrough for RCB, but the damage was done as the required rate was at a run a ball. Shimron Hetmyer came out to bat next and fell on the first ball to Krunal for a golden duck. Krunal was on a hat-trick, but captain Riyan Parag survived the hat-trick ball.
Parag did not last long as only 5 runs were added to the tally before the captain fell for 3 off 5 balls to Hazlewood. Ravindra Jadeja came out to bat next and played a sensible knock of 24 runs in a ball. But Jurel stepped up to the plate and completed his fifty very quickly. He made sure that RR won easily, and he stayed till the end to guide the chase through. Jadeja complimented him, but Jurel was the aggressor now.
The duo made sure that there were no more hiccups from here on and put in a measured partnership of an unbeaten 68 runs off 50 balls and got the job done in the end. Jurel hit a maximum and a single to hit the winning runs as his fifty was converted into a substantial score. Jurel remained unbeaten on 81 off 43 balls with 8 fours and 3 sixes to his name, while Jadeja remained unbeaten on 24 off 25 balls with one boundary to his name. 3 extras given by the fielding side as RR finished the chase with 202/4 in 18 overs, winning by 6 wickets with 2 overs to spare.
Krunal Pandya was the pick of the bowlers in what was a difficult evening for the RCB bowlers. Krunal finished with 2/30 in 4 overs. Josh Hazlewood finished with 2/44 in 4 overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar finished with 0/37 in 4 overs. Abhinandan Singh finished with 0/54 in 3 overs. Tim David bowled an over for 18 runs. Romario Shepherd finished with 0/18 in 2 overs. So, RR won by 6 wickets with 2 overs to spare to make it 4 wins in 4 games. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was awarded the Player of the Match award.
What Lies Ahead
So, RR stays at the top of the points table with 8 points from 4 games. RCB suffers their first loss and have 4 points from 3 games. RR next plays on Monday in an away game against SRH in Hyderabad on 13th April. RCB travels to Mumbai to take on the Mumbai Indians in a blockbuster clash on Sunday night. Before that, we have a Super Saturday, double header. First up, it’s Punjab Kings taking on Sunrisers Hyderabad live from New Chandigarh in Mullanpur. This will be followed up by CSK searching for its first win and points, taking on DC in Chennai.
So, a lot to look forward to on Super Saturday as the action heats up in IPL 2026 Season 19.
Also Read: RR vs RCB: Rajat Patidar’s Belligerent Knock Helps RCB Post A Terrific Target