Suryavanshi and Jurel blitz Bengaluru to keep Rajasthan unbeaten in IPL

GUWAHATI, India (AP) — Another breathtaking innings by 15-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi led unbeaten Rajasthan Royals to comfortably overhaul titleholder Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League on Friday.

Bengaluru recovered from 125-7 in the 14th over to set a decent target of 202.

But Suryavanshi's 78, including another 15-ball half-century, and Dhruv Jurel's unbeaten 81 off 43 balls drove Rajasthan to 202-4 and a six-wicket victory with two overs to spare.

Suryavanshi rocketed the chase with 70 in a stand of 108 off 37 balls with Jurel. They were a season-best 97-1 after the powerplay.

Bengaluru threw test bowlers Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar at Suryavanshi and the kid tore them apart. He got off the mark with a boundary by squeezing a yorker back past Kumar, and welcomed Hazlewood's first ball of the season with a six over deep backward point. Hazlewood's second over was tagged by Suryavanshi for 4-4-4-6.

“We just cannot believe how someone can hit it like that,” Jurel said. “We think we can not hit like that. He is a great talent.”

The youngster smashed seven sixes and eight boundaries at a strike rate of 300 in his second fifty of the young season.

“I try to play the ball and not the bowler, and play my game,” Suryavanshi said. “My dad, my coaches ... they keep telling me that the journey is long and to focus on my process and my game, without diverting my mind.”

By the time he was caught at long on, and the crowd rose to applaud his spectacular effort, the chase was as good as over at 129-2 in the ninth over.

Jurel combined with Ravindra Jadeja to finish the inevitable. Jurel's second fifty this season included three sixes and eight boundaries.

Rajasthan topped the table with four wins from four games while Bengaluru was third with a game in hand.

Rain forced the start to be delayed for more than an hour, and Bengaluru was reduced to 61-3 in the powerplay.

As wickets fell to Jofra Archer and Ravi Bishnoi, Virat Kohli kept the strike rate up and captain Rajat Patidar top-scored with 63 off 40 balls. But when Bengaluru slipped to 125-7, Ventakesh Iyer was brought in as an impact substitute and it paid off as 76 runs were plundered off the last six overs.

Iyer’s quickfire 29 off 15 balls helped Bengaluru reach 201-8.

“The way we started in the powerplay, to get to 200 is a positive sign for us,” Patidar said. “The way their batters, especially Vaibhav, batted in the powerplay, it made the difference.”

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Virat Kohli bowled out during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati, India, Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Royal Challengers Bengaluru's captain Rajat Patidar hits a six during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati, India, Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

dRajasthan Royals' Vaibhav Sooryavanshi celebrates his fifty runs uring the Indian Premier League cricket match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati, India, Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Rajasthan Royals' Dhruv Jurel hits a boundary during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati, India, Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Rajasthan Royals' Vaibhav Sooryavanshi plays a shot during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati, India, Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Residents of Vilnius were told to take shelter and Lithuania's president and prime minister were taken to safe locations on Wednesday because of an alarm over drone activity near the border with Belarus, underlining jitters on NATO's eastern fringe over incursions related to Russia's war with Ukraine.

An emergency announcement from the military told people in the Vilnius region to “immediately head to a shelter or a safe place.”

The alert, which lasted for about an hour, also led to the closure of the airspace over Vilnius Airport. President Gitanas Nauseda and Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene were taken to shelters, and there was also an evacuation order at Lithuania's parliament, the Seimas, the BNS news agency reported.

It was the first major alert that sent residents and political leaders in a European Union and NATO capital rushing to shelters since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Lithuania, a member of NATO and the European Union, borders Russia-allied Belarus to the east and Russia's Kaliningrad exclave to the west. Wednesday's alert came after the military said it detected drone activity in Belarus, but no drones were sighted over Lithuania.

In recent months, Ukrainian drones aimed at Russia have crossed or come down in NATO territory on numerous occasions. Western officials have blamed what they say is likely Russian electronic jamming of the drones. Russia, meanwhile, has renewed threats that it would retaliate if Ukrainian drones are launched from Baltic countries or if those countries are complicit in their use against Russia.

On Tuesday evening, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys wrote on social media that “Russia is deliberately redirecting Ukrainian drones into Baltic airspace while waging smear campaigns” against Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. “It’s a transparent act of desperation — an attempt to sow chaos and distract from a simple reality: (Ukraine) is hitting Russian military machine hard.”

Budrys' comment came hours after a NATO jet shot down a Ukrainian drone over southern Estonia. Ukraine apologized for that “unintended incident,” without specifying what had happened.

Last week, Latvia’s government collapsed following an argument over the handling of multiple incidents involving stray drones suspected to be from Ukraine. The defense minister was forced to quit after his party withdrew its support for him, and the prime minister then resigned. The governing coalition had been under strain for months over several other issues.

The phone shows the received message "The Lithuanian military reports: "AIR DANGER. Hurry to cover or a safe place without delay, take care of your loved ones, wait for further recommendations. We will inform you about the end of the danger in a separate message", in Vilnius, Lithuania, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)

The phone shows the received message "The Lithuanian military reports: "AIR DANGER. Hurry to cover or a safe place without delay, take care of your loved ones, wait for further recommendations. We will inform you about the end of the danger in a separate message", in Vilnius, Lithuania, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)