Rajasthan Royals coasted to a commanding 8-wicket victory over Chennai Super Kings at the Baraspara Stadium in Guwahati on Monday in their IPL 2026 clash, as Vaibhav Sooryavanshi smashed the third-fastest
fifty in tournament history to power RR past the 128-run target in just 12.1 overs.
Chennai Super Kings were bowled out for 127, with Jamie Overton’s lone fighting effort of 43 standing out in an innings where the Royals seamers tore through the CSK line-up with Jofra Archer and Nandre Burger striking early to tumble the Chennai top-order.
Chennai skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad, however, stated that he wasn’t too concerned about the result and backed the batting line-up to shape up well as the tournament goes on.
“I felt the conditions at the start were really tough, especially when facing Jofra and Burger. They bowled brilliant lengths and even after that, to a medium-pacer it was slightly tough. You could see even the spinners were getting some assistance as well.”
Rajasthan Royals won the toss and skipper Riyan Parag opted to field first, a decision that paid off as they quickly removed Sanju, CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad and young sensation Ayush Mhatre for low scores.
Gaikwad scored just 6 off 11 balls before being bowled by Jofra Archer, while Burger dismissed Mhatre for a golden duck. Sarfaraz Khan came in as an impact substitute and tried to stabilise the innings with debutant Matt Short, but the Australian managed only 2 off 7 balls before being caught by Yashasvi Jaiswal off Sandeep Sharma.
Jamie Overton was CSK’s standout performer, guiding them past 100 with a fighting 43 off 36 balls, but Chennai were eventually bowled out for 127 in 19.4 overs.
“Yes, we sould have been better in batting, we sould have taken the game deep, showed some batsmanship, maybe take the game till 150-160. But, nowadays, you never know what’s a good score, so you just have to keep going.”
“I think it just one of those days where the wicket was slightly on the tougher side. So not frustrated at all. You just put it behind and move on.”
“We’ve got a game in another three days. Make sure that everyone is in a good headspace. One good thing is, a lot of youngsters in the group. So, probably a nervy start for everyone, but good to get a game behind and good to start with lot of mistakes. Hopefully it will be just improvement after here.”
“I’m someone who’s not a firm believer of going all the way. But, with the impact player, you never really know what’s the good score or what’s the par score. So you don’t really often see games going down the line till the 20th over when you’re defending 150, 160 or 170. So I think it’s just about backing yourself, backing your game for the batsmen. If you have it in your area, just make sure you go for it.”
“Today it didn’t work but we can be better in batsmanship. You just have to be positive, especially when you’re batting first. If conditions are good, you never know, the same batting line-up can put a good score,” he said.
Sooryavanshi enjoyed an early slice of luck when he was dropped by Karthik Sharma in the first over of the chase, and the openers capitalised to give the Royals a brisk start. The pair brought up a fifty-run stand by the end of the fifth over, immediately putting CSK’s defence under pressure.
The teenager stormed to his half-century in a mere 15 balls, the third quickest in the league’s history. However, the 15-year-old’s onslaught ended soon after, as Sarfaraz Khan took a catch in the deep off Anshul Kamboj.
The Royals raced to the target of 128 with 8 wickets in hand and 47 balls to spare on a day returning RR star Ravindra Jadeja tormented his former side with two wickets in the middle overs. This came after Sanju Samson, who moved to CSK in a trade involving the two veteran players, endured a disappointing debut for the league’s most decorated franchise, dismissed cheaply for 6.
