Rajasthan Royals closed their woeful 2025 IPL season with a comfortable six-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings after prodigy Vaibhav Suryavanshi paved the way with a mature 57-run knock in an inconsequential contest in Delhi on Tuesday.
The find of the season for Royals in an otherwise forgettable season, the 14-year old Suryavanshi once again put on display a fearless show during his 33-ball knock as his side overhauled a target of 188 with remarkable ease.
Yashasvi Jaiswal had set the tone for the chase with a fiery 36 and Suryavanshi carried forward the good work with his impressive knock.
Jaiswal, before being castled by Anshul Kamboj, was severe on Khaleed Ahmed, creaming off 18 runs from the pacer's second over while providing a rollicking start to his side.
Suryavanshi was watchful initially but never allowed the balls in his zone to go unpunished, and even a seasoned campaigner like Ravindra Jadeja could not contain him.
He sent the ball soaring into the stands off Jadeja twice and completed his half-century with his fourth six, that came off spinner Noor Ahmad.
With skipper Sanju Samon (41) he raised a match-winning 98-run stand for the second wicket. The skipper was happy playing second fiddle to the teenager.
It was only the fourth win of the season for the Royals, who may avoid a last-place finish with Tuesday's victory.
After Samson's dismissal, Suryavanshi and Riyan Parag (3) also joined their skipper in the dug out, and it looked like Royals may again snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
The equation read 30 off 26 balls, but Dhurv Jurel (31) and Shimron Heymyer (12) carried the side past the finish line.
Earlier, Young Ayush Mhatre once again reminded everyone that he is one for the future with a 20-ball 43 that helped CSK huff and puff to a modest 187 for eight.
MS Dhoni's team would have been in bigger trouble had Dewald Brevis (42) and Shivam Dube (39) not prevented the innings from falling apart. Dhoni himself could manage only a sedate 16 off 17, failing to provide a late flourish.
There was no end to the woes of the his team's floundering middle order. The promising start was frittered away with Devin Conway (10), Urvil Patel (0) struggling to get going, and they had lost half the team inside eight overs.
Pacers Yudhvir Singh (3/47) and Akash Madhwal (3/29) shared six wickets between them.
Conway began with a fluent drive off Tushar Deshpande, who was mixing up his length nicely, and beat the bat of the New Zealander a number of times.
Conway did not last long, offering a simple catch to Parag at mid-off off Yudhvir. He charged down the wicket but just managed to chip the good length ball.
Yudhvir struck again, sending back the talented Patel, who went for a big shot but failed to connect, and Kwena Maphaka took a sharp catch at the edge of the circle.
Mhatre moved the scoreboard by finding two boundaries off Deshpande, who was hitting the deck hard.
R Ashwin's surprise promotion to number four left the fans delighted as the spin all-rounder broke the shackles with a tremendous six on the leg side off Yudhvir. Mhatre also found consecutive boundaries as CSK milked 24 runs in that over.
The youngster continued to bat in aggressive fashion, finding a hat-trick of boundaries off Deshpande but the pacer had the last laugh.
Soon Ashwin departed and Ravindra Jadeja also could not make any impact, flicking off his legs to Dhruv Jurel, to give Yudhvir his third wicket of the match.
The run rate was not an issue, as CSK were going at close to 10 an over but half of the batters were back in the dug out well before the half-way mark.
In came Brevis and the South African churned out yet another impact knock, a 25-ball 42. His entraining knock that had three sixes and two fours was ended by Madhwal. But before that, Brevis and Shivam Dube added 59 runs for the sixth wicket to keep CSK in hunt for a 200-plus total.
The spectators were on their feet when 'Thala' Dhoni arrived at the fall of the Protea batter. The CSK skipper punished a full-length ball from Riyan Parag for a six, much to the delight of fans as the chants of 'Dhoni' 'Dhoni' reverberated across the stadium.
Runs continued to flow from Dube's bat as the tall left-hander dispatched one from Wanindu Hasaranga into the stands. However, the late push never came.
