'Just trying to escape him': Cummins on facing Sooryavanshi

JAIPUR: Skipper Pat Cummins admitted that stopping teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was the biggest challenge as Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) registered a five-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Saturday.

Cummins, who gave away just 27 in his four overs revealed that his bowling plan revolved around limiting Sooryavanshi’s impact by keeping him off strike as much as possible.

“Yeah, good start. IPL doesn’t get any easier in terms of its big scores. So, got away with one tonight. The openers were going pretty hard. Young boy hits it pretty hard. Just trying to escape him really and try and bowl as many balls down the other end,” he said in a video released by IPL on X.

The 15-year-old had earlier dominated the SRH attack with a sensational 103 off 37 balls, smashing 12 sixes and five fours to power Rajasthan Royals to a massive 228/6 after being asked to bat first.

Despite the early onslaught, SRH managed to control the scoring slightly in the death overs, preventing RR from adding another 10-15 runs which could have made the chase even tougher.

Chasing 229, SRH came out aggressively despite losing an early wicket. Ishan Kishan led the counterattack with a blistering 74 off 31 balls, while Abhishek Sharma smashed 57 off 29. The duo stitched a crucial 132-run partnership that turned the game in SRH’s favour.

Kishan echoed Cummins’ views on the increasing difficulty for bowlers and also spoke about the toss factor as in a light-hearted manner.