After four months on the sidelines, Australian captain Pat Cummins made a triumphant return to cricket, leading Sunrisers Hyderabad to a five-wicket victory over Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League. However, his comeback was not without a rude welcome: his first ball was smashed for a six by 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who went on to score a brilliant century.
Cummins' Return and Sooryavanshi's Heroics
Cummins, who had been sidelined with a lumbar bone stress injury since the Adelaide Ashes Test in December, resumed the captaincy from Ishan Kishan. Winning the toss and electing to field, he saw his first delivery to Sooryavanshi pulled over square leg for a statement six. The teenager then crashed his second IPL century off just 36 balls, the third fastest in IPL history, before being trapped lbw for 103 by Sakib Hussain. Sooryavanshi also became the fastest and youngest to reach 1000 IPL runs, doing so in 473 balls, surpassing Mitch Owen's record of 533 balls.
Cummins praised the youngster, saying, "I think he's my new favourite player. He hits the ball so hard, it's great to watch. You've got to be right on the money as a bowler because if you're not it's going a long way." Despite that initial six, Cummins bowled superbly, conceding just 27 runs in his four overs and taking the wicket of Riyan Parag with a yorker.
Hyderabad's Chase
Chasing a formidable 228, Hyderabad made light work of the target. Travis Head fell early for six, but Abhishek Sharma smashed 57 off 29 balls and Kishan cracked 74 off 31 to set up victory with nine balls to spare. Cummins was delighted with his performance, saying, "Really happy. You're never quite sure how it's going to come out first game back."
Punjab Kings' Record Chase
Earlier in the day, the Ricky Ponting-coached Punjab Kings pulled off the biggest run chase in T20 history, overhauling Delhi Capitals' 264 with seven balls to spare. KL Rahul hammered 152 not out, the third-highest individual score in IPL history, while Nitish Rana made 91. In response, Punjab's batters fired, with Priyansh Arya (43) and Prabhsimran Singh (76) taking 116 runs in the powerplay, before captain Shreyas Iyer (71 not out) sealed the win. Australian Xavier Bartlett had a tough outing, recording the most expensive figures for a Punjab bowler with 1-69.
