Marcus Stoinis smashed 62 not out off 22 balls for Punjab Kings but it wasn’t enough as Rajasthan ended their unbeaten run
Ricky Ponting’s Punjab Kings have lost for the first time in this Indian Premier League season, beaten by Rajasthan Royals despite Marcus Stoinis battering an unbeaten 62 off 22 balls.
The Australian allrounder helped lift the Kings to 4-222 in their 20 overs with compatriot Cooper Connolly chipping in with a 14-ball 30, the pair hitting nine sixes between them.
On a tricky pitch, described by Kings skipper Shreyas Ayer as “tacky and slow”, it looked sufficient. Yet the Royals reached their target with four balls and six wickets to spare, Donovan Ferreira ending it with a six to reach 4-228.
Teenage star Vaibhav Sooryavanshi launched the response with an explosive 43 off 16 balls before rapid half-centuries from Yashasvi Jaiswal (51 off 27) and Ferreira (52 no off 26) took the visitors to victory.
The Ponting-coached Kings had won six matches, with the other washed out, before Tuesday’s tie, and remain top of the table.
But bowlers Arshdeep Singh (1-68 from four overs), Lockie Ferguson (0-57 off four) and Marco Jansen (0-41 off 3.2) were all savaged as Royals hit 14 sixes.
Five of those came from Sooryavanshi’s bat, the remarkable 15-year-old who has set the cricket world alight.
The teen became the fastest to 400 runs in an IPL season, doing so in 167 balls, beating Andre Russell’s record set in 2019 by 21 deliveries.
“I really enjoy batting with him. He is playing amazing; always happy seeing from the other end the way he is hitting the ball,” said Jaiswal.
Put in to bat, the Kings began slowly but the second over, bowled by Nandre Burger, went for 21 and their batters were off and running.
Jofra Archer (1-40) sent back Priyansh Arya (29 off 11) but Connolly, after settling with two singles off five balls, hit successive sixes off Yash Raj Punja and one off Ravindra Jadeja. He was caught three balls later at long off attempting to hit the former for another.
So well have the Kings’ top order performed this campaign Stoinis has mainly watched from the dugout. He had only faced 27 balls and scored 48 runs in four innings before Tuesday’s match.
Arriving after Prabhsimran Singh’s 59 off 44, he unsurprisingly he took a few balls to get his eye in, scoring five from five.
Having had a “look”, he smacked his next 17 balls for 57, including a brace of sixes off the disbelieving Archer, pulled over deep midwicket then cracked into the sightscreen in successive balls.
The West Australian took 24 off the final over, from Brijesh Sharma, and said with relish: “Enjoyed that. It has been a different season, watching the boys smack it all around the park. Nice to get a hit tonight.”
The smile faded, however, as Sooryavanshi set about Arshdeep and Ferguson. The latter was having his first outing of the tournament having replaced Xavier Bartlett in the line-up but saw Sooryavanshi whip a 142.5kph ball off his legs and over the fence, then cart his follow-up slower ball over mid-on.
Sooryavanshi was eventually caught off a skier, but Royals were well on their way by then.
IPL 2026 standings
Australians in IPL 2026
Chennai Super Kings: Matt Short ($255k), Spencer Johnson ($255k, replaces Nathan Ellis ($340k))
Delhi Capitals: Mitchell Starc ($2m)
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Josh Hazlewood ($2.13m), Tim David ($510k)
Punjab Kings: Marcus Stoinis ($1.9m), Ben Dwarshuis ($745k), Mitchell Owen ($510k), Cooper Connolly ($510k), Xavier Bartlett ($136k)
Kolkata Knight Riders: Cameron Green ($3.5m)
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Pat Cummins ($3.5m), Travis Head ($2.38m), Jack Edwards ($510k, withdrawn)
Lucknow Super Giants: Josh Inglis ($1.49m), Mitchell Marsh ($578k)
