Guwahati, March 30 (IANS) Teenage opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who lit up the ACA Stadium with a blistering 52 off 17 balls in Rajasthan Royals securing an eight-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings, said the team’s focus was on dominating the powerplay in a modest chase of 128 at the ACA Stadium.

“I didn’t really do anything outside - there was supposed to be a cake cutting, but I went to sleep early to avoid the cake-smearing (on how he celebrated his birthday last week). The plan today was simply to execute well in the powerplay - initially the wicket felt a bit sticky, but as the ball got older, it started coming onto the bat nicely.

“I do think about defence, but today our plan was to control the game in the powerplay because in a small chase, that phase is crucial - if the bowling team does well there, the game can tilt their way, but our powerplay went really well,” he said at the conclusion of the game.

His explosive knock, also the third fastest fifty in IPL history, ensured RR’s chase of 128 was virtually sealed inside the first six overs. Yashasvi Jaiswal and skipper Riyan Parag later completed the formalities with 47 balls to spare and capped off a dominant performance that began with incisive spells from Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger and Ravindra Jadeja to bowl out CSK for 127.

Asked about guidance from coaches and fellow opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sooryavanshi said, “The coaches didn’t specifically say that bowlers would attack me - everyone else was already saying that - but they just told me that they back me and that I should stick to my natural game and play according to the situation.

“My opening partner (Jaiswal) keeps communicating with me after every ball - he tells me when to take singles, keeps giving me the strike, and encourages me to keep playing my shots if the ball is coming nicely onto the bat (on partnership understanding),” he said.

Player of the Match Nandre Burger, who picked 2-26, credited his side’s strong start with the ball leading to their win. “Firstly, all glory to God - it feels great to contribute to a win for the team and get us off to a good start. Watching the previous games with big scores, you naturally prepare for chasing something big, so winning the toss and getting the ball first was massive for us and helped us get off to a strong start.

Asked about his plan to bowl in power-play, Burger said, “The plan is always to get every batter out - I can’t really say I meant to bowl that exact delivery to Sanju Samson, it just happened, you can call it natural variation - but overall the idea was to bowl tight lines and make batters hit into the areas we wanted, so I’m glad it worked in my favour today.

“The dressing room feels pretty similar to before - there are a few new faces and changes like the coach and captain, but the energy is good, everyone is smiling, and hopefully this is a positive start so we can keep that momentum going,” he said.

--IANS

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