As the business end of the Indian Premier League arrives Mitch Marsh is in magnificent form, hitting 96 to add to making 111 and 90 in his last three innings.
But it is all too late as his Lucknow Super Giants have long been eliminated and sit bottom. Why that is was clear as they lost to Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets despite Marsh and Josh Inglis giving them a blistering start.
The Western Australian pair put on 109 for the first wicket in 50 balls but a lack of support meant the visitors made only 5-220.
Smacked x 2️⃣ 🔥@LucknowIPL openers warming up in style 😎
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 19, 2026
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That looked inadequate after one over of the Royals innings, which was hit for 23 and so it proved despite Maynak Yadav bowling in the mid-140s kph.
Their pace did not bother the extraordinary 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi who smashed 93 off 38 balls to maintain Royals' chances of reaching the play-offs.
Josh Hazlewood's Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Pat Cummins' Sunrisers Hyderabad and Gujarat Titan are already through.
Royals will join them if they beat already eliminated Mumbai Indians on Sunday (local time), squeezing out Ricky Ponting's Punjab Kings and Cam Green's Kolkata Knight Riders.
Put in to bat in Jaipur on Tuesday Marsh went to 50 off 25 balls while Inglis reached his half-century off 23.
But after Inglis went for a 29-ball 60 the pace slowed, despite Rishabh Pant making 35 off 23 balls. Marsh was eventually run out off the penultimate ball, trying to regain the strike having faced 57 balls.
The last over, bowled by Jofra Archer, brought three wickets (two run out) for five runs.
"They bowled well in the end, it felt like torture out there," said Marsh. "Maybe a few more boundaries would have been nice but they bowled well.
"We've (Marsh and Inglis) played a lot of cricket together, he takes a lot of pressure off me."
Sooryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal launched the reply with 75 off 33 balls and after the former went for a 23-ball 43 the youngster kept blasting away. He hit ten sixes before being dismissed, by which time Dhruv Jurel (53no off 38) was well set to take Royals home.
𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗶𝘅𝗲𝘀 🚀
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 19, 2026
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi lit up #RR's chase with a thunderous 93(38) 🎇
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"I always knew I could hit anytime and didn't want to rush at all," said Sooryavanshi.
He has now hit 53 this season and needs seven more to break Chris Gayle's 14-year-old IPL record of 59.
"I don't read papers and all," Sooryavanshi added of his instant fame. "I just think this is the start and if I have a long career then a lot of things will be said. I just want to focus on my game."
