Vaibhav Sooryavanshi fell three runs short of the fastest IPL century on Wednesday, May 27, 2026, when he was dismissed for 97 off 29 balls in the Eliminator at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur. He was out in the eighth over, holing out to deep third man after a blistering innings that left the crowd stunned.
Three runs. That's all that stood between Sooryavanshi and a moment that would have been replayed for years. He could not quite believe it. The disbelief was written all over him as he walked off, and Abhishek Sharma was the first to reach him. Dhruv Jurel paused for a quiet word before taking guard. For a brief moment, the innings felt bigger than the match itself.
The damage had been done in a brutal burst. Sooryavanshi was 71 off 23 balls when the over from Praful Hinge began, and he answered with three sixes and two boundaries before the over ended. He finished with 12 sixes, just three short of Chris Gayle's fastest IPL hundred record of 30 balls, a mark that had stood for 13 years. It was the second time in IPL 2026 that he had fallen in the nineties, after 93 off 38 balls against Lucknow Super Giants last week in Jaipur.
That near miss came from a player who has already built a rare record book in a short time. Sooryavanshi has two IPL centuries to his name. He struck his maiden hundred last year at 14, then followed it with another against SunRisers last month in Jaipur. He came into Wednesday with 680 runs in 15 matches, an average of 45 and a strike rate of 243, numbers that have pushed him into the Orange Cap race and made every innings feel like a warning shot.
SunRisers had tried yorkers first and then turned to short-pitched bowling when that plan failed. Sooryavanshi kept hitting through it all, including a strike that sent Australia World Cup-winning captain Pat Cummins into the sight screen off a ball bowled from around the wicket. But the final swing of momentum belonged to the fielders, and once he nicked the chance to deep third man, the innings became one of those cruel scorecards that says almost everything and still leaves the main thing incomplete.
That is why the Rajasthan Royals Vs Sunrisers Hyderabad Match Scorecard will be remembered less for the margin and more for the number next to Sooryavanshi's name. In a chase of records, he fell just before the one that would have changed the shape of the night.
