India, May 28 -- The IPL Eliminator belonged to a teenager who played without fear or baggage, and almost without logic. On a pressure-filled knockout evening at the PCA New Chandigarh Stadium on Wednesday, 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi produced one of the most astonishing innings in IPL playoff history, smashing 97 off just 29 balls to help propel Rajasthan Royals into Qualifier 2 with a 47-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad.

The youngster's audacious stroke-play lit up the night and left even seasoned professionals stunned. Every over seemed to carry another moment of disbelief as Sooryavanshi dismantled SRH's bowling with clean striking that bordered on outrageous. He fell agonisingly short of a century and an all-time IPL record, bu...