Sooryavanshi shines for Rajasthan again as Punjab suffer first loss of IPL season

[p]The teenage Indian batsman kept up his blazing T20 form with his 16-ball knock that laid the foundation for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/rajasthan-royals/S2MQPiFG/"]Rajasthan[/a]'s chase of 223 as they reached home with four balls to spare in [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/punjab-kings/juzL6jnm/"]Punjab[/a]'s home Chandigarh.[/p][p]Sooryavanshi's opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal hit 51 before South African Donovan Ferreira smacked an unbeaten 52 to complete the win and inflict [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/cricket/punjab-kings-juzL6jnm/rajasthan-royals-S2MQPiFG/?mid=6Zo9qjo4"]a first defeat of the season on table toppers Punjab[/a].[/p][p][b]"I really enjoyed batting with him, and he's playing amazing,"[/b] said Jaiswal.[/p][p][b]"I'm always happy seeing from the other end, the way he's hitting the ball."[/b][/p][embed guid="b3d7c7e2-f5a3-4012-94e0-3648945a2f63" url="https://x.com/rajasthanroyals/status/2049193058810597422" social-type="twitter" /][p]The left-handed Sooryavanshi began with a bang as he hit Arshdeep Singh for a six and two fours before going after Lockie Ferguson for a couple of hits over the fence.[/p][p]Sooryavanshi fell to Arshdeep after he mistimed a hit to be caught at mid-off. He reached 400 runs in nine outings this edition to take top spot in the batting chart.[/p][p]Sunrisers Hyderabad opener Abhishek Sharma slipped to second with 380 runs, but he has played a match fewer than Sooryavanshi.[/p][p]The boy wonder is now the fastest to 400 runs in a single IPL season, getting there in 167 balls to beat the previous record by Andre Russell from 2019 by 21 balls.[/p][p]Sooryavanshi has been in phenomenal form as he cracked a 36-ball century on Saturday against Hyderabad to become the youngest and fastest to score 1,000 T20 runs.[/p][p]In his latest knock, Sooryavanshi hit some jaw-dropping shots, including a flick off Ferguson for a six over deep mid-wicket.[/p][embed guid="81361c8a-8660-478d-b1ae-d0c411e55235" url="https://x.com/rajasthanroyals/status/2049194000373223574" social-type="twitter" /][p]Jaiswal kept up the pace in his 27-ball knock after Sooryavanshi departed, and despite disciplined bowling by Punjab in the middle overs, Rajasthan remained on course.[/p][p]An unbeaten 77-run stand between Ferreira, who was named player of the match, and impact substitute Shubham Dubey, who hit 31, steered the team home.[/p][p][b]"This is the format where I feel that a lot of players have changed their game, and when they come in, they go bang from ball one,"[/b] said Punjab skipper Shreyas Iyer.[/p][p][b]"So it's an arduous task for bowlers to come up with a certain plan. But at the end of the day, I feel it's all about execution. And today it just wasn't our day."[/b][/p][p]Earlier, Punjab's Australian batter Marcus Stoinis hammered an unbeaten 22-ball 62 to guide the team to 222-4 after being invited to bat first.[/p][p]But the batting blitz was not enough as Punjab - coached by Ricky Ponting - suffered their first defeat in eight matches this season.[/p]