Young Sooryavanshi hits 15-ball fifty as Rajasthan thumps Chennai by eight wickets in IPL

GUWAHATI, India (AP) — Young sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi smashed a 15-ball half-century as Rajasthan Royals thrashed Chennai Super Kings by eight wickets in the Indian Premier League on Monday.

On a pitch which was under covers for most of the last two days due to wet weather, Chennai was put in and crumbled to 127 all out in 19.4 overs. All six Rajasthan bowlers shared the wickets.

The 15-year-old Sooryavanshi was dropped on the first ball he faced then powered the chase with 52 off 17 balls — raising the third fastest fifty in the IPL — as Rajasthan cruised to 128-2 in only 12.1 overs.

Five-time champion Chennai has undergone a youth movement in order to make a long-term rebound from finishing in last place last year. But it made an inauspicious start thanks to the youngest player in the league.

Sooryavanshi's miscued pull shot against Matt Henry in the first over was dropped by debutant Kartik Sharma, a tough two-handed catch over his shoulders while running backward from midwicket. Sharma failed to chase the ball and it dribbled over the boundary, the first of Sooryavanshi's four boundaries plus five sixes.

Sooryavanshi gave Rajasthan a blazing start of 74-0 in the powerplay. He clobbered wrist-spinner Noor Ahmad for successive sixes and raised his half-century off just 15 balls before he holed out to Sarfaraz Khan at sweeper cover in the seventh over.

Fellow opener Yashasvi Jaiswal had a front row seat to Sooryavanshi's artistry. He was dropped on 26 before finishing 38 not out off 36 balls.

“The plan was to decide the game in the powerplay as we’d restricted them to a low score," Sooryavanshi said. “After every ball Jaiswal doesn't tell me to take a single. He tells me that the ball's going off the bat nicely and to keep going.”

New Rajasthan skipper Riyan Parag’s decision to bowl first in favorable conditions was vindicated when Chennai slumped to 38-4 against the express pace of Jofra Archer (2-19) and Nandre Burger (2-26).

Former Rajasthan skipper Sanju Samson (6) had a forgetful first game for his new franchise Chennai when Burger flattened his off stump with a 140 kph delivery.

Samson was hired to fix the top order batting issues for Chennai but captain Ruturaj Gaikwad also made only 6 when he exposed his stumps against Archer’s pace and was clean bowled.

Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja (2-18), playing for Rajasthan after 17 seasons with Chennai, struck twice in his first over to reduce Chennai further to 57-6.

With Mahendra Singh Dhoni not available for the first two weeks due to a calf injury, Chennai was in danger of opening its campaign with less than 100 runs. But Jamie Overton top-scored with 43 off 36 balls before he was run out in the last over.

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