On a pitch which was under covers for most of the last two days due to wet weather, Chennai were put in and crumbled to 127 all out in 19.4 overs. All six Rajasthan bowlers shared the wickets.
Sooryavanshi, 15, was dropped on the first ball he faced from Matt Henry but powered the chase with 52 off 17 balls, raising the third fastest fifty in the IPL, as Rajasthan cruised to 2-128 in only 12.1 overs.
Sooryavanshi's miscued pull shot against Henry was dropped by debutant Kartik Sharma, a tough two-handed catch over his shoulders while running backward from midwicket.Â
Sharma failed to chase the ball and it dribbled over the boundary, the first of Sooryavanshi's four boundaries plus five sixes.
Sooryavanshi gave Rajasthan a blazing start of 0-74 in the powerplay. He clobbered wrist-spinner Noor Ahmad for successive sixes and raised his half-century off just 15 balls before he holed out to Sarfaraz Khan at sweeper cover in the seventh over.
Sooryavanshi made history in 2025 when, at 14 years and 23 days, he became the IPL's youngest debutant, and smacked his first delivery for a six.
Fellow opener Yashasvi Jaiswal had a front row seat to Sooryavanshi's artistry. He was dropped on 26 before finishing 38 not out off 36 balls.
New Rajasthan captain Riyan Parag's decision to bowl first in favourable conditions was vindicated when Chennai slumped to 4-38 against the express pace of Jofra Archer (2-19) and Nandre Burger (2-26).
Former Rajasthan skipper Sanju Samson (6) had a first game to forget for Chennai, his new franchise, when Burger flattened his off stump with a 140kph delivery.
Samson was hired to fix the top-order batting issues for Chennai, who finished in last place last season, but captain Ruturaj Gaikwad also made only six when he exposed his stumps against Archer's pace and was clean bowled.
Chennai slipped deeper into trouble when Aussie batsman Matt Short departed after seven balls having mustered just two singles. He was caught by Jaiswal off Sandeep Sharma to leave his side on 4-38.
Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja (2-18), playing for Rajasthan after 17 seasons with Chennai, struck twice in his first over to reduce Chennai further to 6-57.
With Mahendra Singh Dhoni not available for the first two weeks due to a calf injury, Chennai were in danger of opening their campaign with fewer than 100 runs but Jamie Overton top-scored with 43 off 36 balls before he was run out in the last over.
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