Sooryavanshi shines as Rajasthan beats Hyderabad in Indian Premier League eliminator

NEW CHANDIGARH, India (AP) — Teenage star Vaibhav Sooryavanshi hit 97 off only 29 balls as Rajasthan Royals beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 47 runs in the Indian Premier League eliminator on Wednesday.

The 15-year-old Sooryavanshi hit his second-highest individual score of the season, including 12 sixes and five fours, as Rajasthan reached a record 243-8 in 20 overs.

It was the second-highest total in IPL knockouts, a day after Royal Challengers Bengaluru had posted the highest 254-5 against Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 1. Bengaluru beat Gujarat by 92 runs to advance to the final.

Meanwhile, Dhruv Jurel also hit 50 off 21, while Hyderabad’s top-order struggled to get going and was bowled out for 196 in 19.2 overs. Jofra Archer picked up 3-58 in four overs, while Nandre Burger took 2-26.

The defeat eliminates Hyderabad, while Rajasthan will now take on Gujarat in Qualifier 2 at the same venue. Friday’s winner will take on Bengaluru in the final at Ahmedabad on Sunday.

Hyderabad opted to bowl but ran into Sooryavanshi, who smacked 50 off 16 balls, and took control of proceedings. He hit eight sixes as Rajasthan scored 80-0 in the powerplay and reached 100 in 44 balls.

Sooryavanshi smacked another four sixes, scoring 47 off the next 12 balls, and was one hit away from the fastest-ever IPL hundred, when he was caught at third man in the eighth over.

He hit Praful Hinge for three sixes and two fours before holing out in search of Chris Gayle’s 30-ball record. Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored a tame 29 in comparison, was caught in the 11th over.

Sooryavanshi broke Jaiswal’s record of most IPL runs by an uncapped batter (626) — he now has 680 runs in 15 innings, the current season’s highest tally.

Jurel and skipper Riyan Parag then added 55 off 21 balls as Rajasthan carried forward its momentum. It was a sixth half-century for Jurel this season, before Hinge picked his second wicket.

Rajasthan lost regular wickets once past 200 in the 15th over but managed to garner enough momentum to record its highest-ever IPL total. Its previous best was also against Hyderabad – 242-5 last year.

Hyderabad needed a quickfire reply to have any chance, but it ran into in-form Archer, who had wrecked Mumbai Indians in the previous game.

Archer dismissed Abhishek Sharma for a two-ball duck, bowled Travis Head for 17 and then Ishan Kishan was also caught — Hyderabad was 57-4 in 4.4 overs.

Kishan had provided the quick start, hitting 33 off 11 balls, before he went for one shot too many off Archer.

The game was settled when Heinrich Klaasen was out lbw to Yash Raj Punja for 18.

From 81-5, Hyderabad breached the 190-mark thanks to Nitish Reddy (38) and impact sub Salil Arora (35), as the duo added 56 off 24 balls.

Ravindra Jadeja dismissed both, as Rajasthan beat Hyderabad for the first time in seven matches.

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

Rajasthan Royals' Jofra Archer celebrates the wicket of Sunrisers Hyderabad's Travis Head during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad in New Chandigarh, India, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)

Rajasthan Royals' Jofra Archer, left, congratulates Yash Rajduring after taking the wicket of Sunrisers Hyderabad's Heinrich Klaasen the Indian Premier League cricket match between Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad in New Chandigarh, India, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)

Sunrisers Hyderabad's Sakib Hussain, left, and Rajasthan Royals' Vaibhav Sooryavanshi share a light moment during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad in New Chandigarh, India, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)

Rajasthan Royals' Vaibhav Sooryavanshi shares a light moment during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad in New Chandigarh, India, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)

Rajasthan Royals' Vaibhav Sooryavanshi plays a shot during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad in New Chandigarh, India, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Sports and medal events cut from the 2032 Brisbane Olympics program will have a path to return at future Summer Games, IOC President Kirsty Coventry told sports leaders on Wednesday.

Coventry’s reassurance to the annual meeting of Summer Games sports bodies came after she warned in February of “uncomfortable” talks ahead to make future Olympic hosting more efficient.

The International Olympic Committee aims to finalize within months the list of sports on the Brisbane program that Coventry previously told their leaders will be fewer than the 36 being played at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

“There is a path (back), it’s not just an end,” the IOC president told The Associated Press on Wednesday on the sidelines of the assembly of the summer sports group known as ASOIF.

Brisbane also could have fewer than the 353 medal events being competed for at Los Angeles.

“I know that not everyone will be happy,” Coventry acknowledged to ASOIF members Wednesday, adding "the goal is not to destroy any sport.”

Coventry also met Tuesday with ASOIF members and assured them “we don’t have specific numbers” as targets for the sports and events program for Brisbane.

The most important metric shapes to be the number of venues needed as the IOC looks to manage costs for hosts.

“The cost and complexity comes when you start adding additional venues for single purpose events,” Coventry told the AP. “That’s where we need to look and say: ‘How could we change that?’”

A major step toward streamlining the program for Brisbane and beyond is a June 24 meeting of the full IOC membership in Lausanne that should agree on a process for evaluating sports and events.

A list of sports at Brisbane could be confirmed in December, with a longer timeline into 2029 to confirm the detailed program of medal events.

The 36 sports in Los Angeles is up from just 26 at the 2012 London Olympics, and ASOIF President Ingmar De Vos later acknowledged, “It has grown too much and needs to be brought back into proportion.”

Modern pentathlon has long been seen as vulnerable to losing its historic Olympic status, while canoe slalom has a very specific venue demand. Sports added to the LA program — including flag football, lacrosse and squash — will be competing for their place in Brisbane before having their showcase in 2028.

The 2036 Olympics hosting contest was paused by Coventry last year in the first big decision of her new presidency. Qatar is widely seen as a strong contender for a project likely to be spread in the Middle East region, which has been targeted during the conflict between the United States and Israel against Iran.

Organizing committee officials overseeing sports and venues came to Lausanne to update federation leaders ahead of a big week in Los Angeles.

Incumbent LA Mayor Karen Bass is trying to secure another term until beyond the Olympics, and there is the annual in-person visit by the IOC panel — known as “cocom” for coordination commission — overseeing games preparations.

“Certainly we are paying attention to it,” Shana Ferguson, LA 2028’s head of sport and games delivery, told the AP about Tuesday's primary election.

One big reveal will be announcing where cycling road races will finish — always a key Olympic event to showcase the city. Paris set a high bar with finish lines framed beneath the Eiffel Tower.

“We are ready — buckle up,” Ferguson said.

ASOIF members are anxious to learn what the IOC will give them as a collective share of Los Angeles Olympics revenues worth several billions of dollars.

With IOC President Coventry sitting in the front row, ASOIF President De Vos called for “fair and sustainable models” to recognize his members’ work and value at the Summer Games.

The IOC paid $590 million from Paris Olympics revenues which was a 9% collective rise on $540 million from the Tokyo Olympics held in 2021.

ASOIF members agree their formula to distribute it, with track and field’s World Athletics typically paid the most. That was $39.6 million for Paris, a slight raise from Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

“We are increasingly being asked to do more with the same resources,” De Vos cautioned, later noting ASOIF has “three more mouths to feed,” with the governing bodies of skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing now eligible for a revenue share.

De Vos, the International Equestrian Federation president, suggested each Olympic sport could make cost efficiencies and it was "for the IOC also to look into its own operations.”

FILE - IOC President Kirsty Coventry speaks during the Olympic opening ceremony at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (Yves Herman/Pool Photo via AP, file)