Sooryavanshi's 96 in vain as Titans knock out Royals

Indian Premier League, Qualifier 2, New Chandigarh

Rajasthan Royals 214-6 (20 overs): Sooryavanshi 96 (47); Holder 2-27

Gujarat Titans 219-3 (18.4 overs): Gill 104 (53), Sudarshan 58

Gujarat Titans won by seven wickets

Scorecard

Teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi excelled again in the Indian Premier League with a brilliant 96, but his Rajasthan Royals fell short as Gujarat Titans booked their place in Sunday's final.

Chasing a target of 215, captain Shubman Gill led Gujarat's reply with a commanding 104 from 53 balls, while Sai Sudarshan struck 58 off 32 balls as they shared an impressive opening stand of 167.

Though England fast bowler Jofra Archer eventually removed Gill in the 15th over, the damage had been done as the 2022 champions only needed 33 off the final five overs to book their place in their third final in five seasons.

Jos Buttler and Rahul Tewatia ensured their side coasted to a seven-wicket victory with eight balls to spare.

Gujarat will face defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who beat them by 92 runs in the first qualifier, in the title decider in Ahmedabad.

Sooryavanshi once again underlined his remarkable talent on Wednesday when the 15-year-old smashed 97 from just 29 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad to get Rajasthan to this stage.

This time, he produced a more measured knock that was equally as eye-catching, as he held Royals together after they slipped to 9-2 against the excellent Gujarat opening bowlers Mohammed Siraj and Kagiso Rabada.

Sooryavanshi struggled to time the ball, playing and missing a number of times, but dug in and struck the first of seven sixes off his 14th delivery - a stunning straight six off Rabada.

Titans eventually resorted to short-pitched bowling and Rabada hit Sooryavanshi on the helmet when he was on 56 off 32.

From there, a switch seemed to flick and the left-hander struck 39 runs off his next 14 balls before being dismissed via a high catch at third from a mistimed slap for 96 off 47.

By the time he fell, Royals had reached 176-6 with 16 balls to spare. Donovan Ferreira then struck 38 off 11 as they posted a total of 214-6, which ultimately proved not enough.

Yet it was Sooryavanshi's ability to stand up to some hostile fast bowling which caught the eye with former West Indies paceman Ian Bishop saying some teams are already "down to Plan Z" against him.

Sooryavanshi has been netting against team-mate Archer in practice sessions and despite being dismissed four times by the short ball this season, his strike-rate against it has risen to 307, with 23 sixes.

"He [Sooryavanshi] has talked about his battles in the nets with Archer," said former West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop.

"Both of them go head to head, full steam. I know a lot of batters who don't like to face fast bowling in the nets at practice time but he has not backed down.

"Archer goes at him and he goes at Archer."