Rajasthan Royals are unstoppable. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi proved one can better the best by playing another astonishing innings — a 26-ball 78 with seven sixes — to set up an easy six-wicket victory for Rajasthan Royals against defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL on Friday. While most 15-year-olds across the country were sweating over their 10th board exams results, this teenager from Bihar’s Samastipur spent the evening hitting a 15-ball fifty as a victory target of 202 was achieved by Royals in just 18 overs. With the win RR consolidated their top spot in the IPL points table.

Dhruv Jurel (81 not out off 43 balls), enjoying his best IPL season with the willow, played a number of graceful shots but when Sooryavanshi is on song, everyone else is compelled to become a bridesmaid or a bystander, getting a first-hand dosage of what brilliance looks like.

Sooryavanshi continued to put the reputation of world famous international bowlers at stake with his amazing bat speed and timing. The chubby cheeked teenager had toyed with Jasprit Bumrah‘s ego in an earlier game and Friday was comeback man Jos Hazlewood’s turn to get butchered.

Hazlewood, a red ball doyen, bowled a perfect delivery close to his body cramping Sooryavanshi for room. To his horror, he found the young boy just heavily chopping the delivery for a boundary.

The next two deliveries were boundaries over mid-on and then he fetched the Aussie’s pace off delivery from outside the off-stump to dispatch into the square leg stands.

The best shot however was a snap hit — where he just whipped a yorker length delivery from seamer Abhinandan Singh into the gallery — just a bit wide of long-on.

Every shot that he hit left the crowd yearning for more. Who could have possibly imagined that he took only 15 balls to score 74 of his 78 runs in fours (8) and sixes (7).

A wily bowler like Bhuvneshwar Kumar was treated with utter disdain as he added a staggering 108 runs for the second wicket in just 6.1 overs with Jurel. Even Jurel feasted on below-par Abhinandan, who had gone for 24 in one of his overs.

Critics are always sceptical about “second season blues” when it comes to newcomers but Sooryavanshi, just like his cricketing philosophy, is out there to change the popular perceptions.

His first season as a 14-year-old was an exceptional one. His second season, so far, has been magnificent.

Just when people were saying that a strike rate of 200 was the industry norm, Sooryavanshi upped the bar and took it to 300. He is not just on a mission to rewrite the record books, but to change perceptions and throw conventional wisdom out of the stadium — along with his orbit-touching sixes.

He is not just knocking on the national T20 team door, he is in a mood to break it down.

Earlier, RCB skipper Rajat Patidar‘s 40-ball-63 and a cameo from Impact Sub Venkatesh Iyer took RCB to 201 for 8, even though they were 25 runs short of what should have been a par score.

But once Sooryavanshi started hitting, it seemed like the total was 50 below par score

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The New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the Toronto Blue Jays’ Double-A affiliate, achieved a rare feat not seen in the post-expansion era. 

Portland’s pitchers — New Hampshire’s opponent for a six-game series — combined for walks, wild pitches and hit batters, paving the way for the Fisher Cats to pull off the feat.

The Fisher Cats fell behind 2-0 early in Tuesday’s game against the Sea Dogs, the Eastern League affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.

But New Hampshire scored its first eight runs in the second inning without recording a single base hit.

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A Portland Sea Dogs cap during a game between the Erie SeaWolves and the Portland Sea Dogs at Hadlock Field in Portland, Maine, Sept. 5, 2025. (Ella Hannaford/Minor League Baseball)

The Fisher Cats exploded for 10 runs in the inning — nine with two outs — on just one hit and no errors, the final box score in New Hampshire’s 12-7 win showed. The feat was fueled by Portland pitchers issuing eight walks and hitting two batters. Sea Dogs pitchers also uncorked four wild pitches and allowed a sacrifice fly and the inning’s lone hit.

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Sea Dogs president Geoff Iacuessa couldn’t believe what unfolded.

“I don’t ever remember seeing that here or any other game I’ve ever seen,” Iacuessa told Portland’s WGME Channel 13. “It was crazy. I thought maybe something was going on with the scoreboard, and then I checked the GameChanger, and it was correct.”

The rare moment happened amid frigid conditions that prompted the stadium’s ground crew to clear the playing grass and infield after heavy snow fell earlier in the day. Temperatures were just a few degrees above freezing at first pitch.

The inning unraveled quickly after a quiet start, when Portland starter Hayden Mullins issued two walks and uncorked a wild pitch despite striking out the side in the first. New Hampshire then broke through with a sacrifice fly.

Hayden Mullins pitches for the Portland Sea Dogs during a game against the Harrisburg Senators at FNB Field in Harrisburg, Pa., Aug. 5, 2025. (Kyle Mace/Minor League Baseball)

Mullins eventually managed to record two outs, but then lost control, walking three straight to tie the game. Jorge Juan came on in relief but hit the first batter he faced with the bases loaded.

A wild pitch made it a 4-2 score, and a walk loaded the bases again for the Fisher Cats. Juan then hit a batter, making it 5-2, before firing another wild pitch to push the Sea Dogs deficit to four runs. Juan walked two more to push it to 7-2 before leaving the mound with a runner at each base again.

Cade Feeney took the hill next and finally stopped the leaking, but not before a wild pitch made it 8-2 and New Hampshire outfielder Ismael Munguia’s two-run single pushed the lead to 10-2.

Ismael Munguia of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats poses for a photo during the team’s photo day at Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester, N.H., March 30, 2026. (Michael Owens/MLB Photos)

Munguia represented his native Nicaragua in last month’s World Baseball Classic, appearing in four games.

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Not even a team at the major league level has scored more than four runs in an inning without recording its first hit, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. 

MLB.com reports it has happened just 16 times in American League and National League history that a pitcher allowed five runs without surrendering a hit in 1⅔ innings or fewer.

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A leading tipster has backed Patrick Mullins to complete back-to-back Grand National victories, though this time on a different mount.

Mullins, son of legendary trainer Willie, rode 33-1 outsider Nick Rockett to victory in 2025. The top amateur jockey had been expected to ride Nick Rockett again this year before switching to Grangeclare West earlier this week.

Nick Rockett has since been pulled out of the Aintree showpiece. Paddock expert Ken Pitterson, a regular contributor to ITV’s racing coverage, predicted Nick Rockett’s shock win 12 months ago.

Now he is tipping another Willie Mullins-trained horse, Grangeclare West, who is among the favourites for the race at 10-1. Pitterson said: “This year, I like the chances of Grangeclare West. He ran third in the race last year and again the way he’s been trained by Willie Mullins. It looks like he’s been gradually building him up.

“I like the way he won the Bobbyjo Chase, which Nick Rockett won last year on the way to Aintree. The way he’s trained him, he’s getting him to peak at the right time.

“He’s got the same sort of profile as Nick Rockett and if you look back at his previous form, he’s a classy performer.

“He won a Grade 1 as a seven-year-old, so you know he’s got a bit of back class as well. He fits the criteria of a horse I’m looking for going into the National.”

Regarding his second and third picks, Pitterson, who works for William Hill Racing Radio, is anticipating another of the favourites, Panic Attack, along with outsider Gerri Colombe, to put in strong performances.

He said: “I think Panic Attack is an interesting runner. She’s a mare in form and mares at this time of year can be dangerous.

“I love the way she performed when she won the two big races in November – the Paddy Power Gold Cup and the Coral Gold Cup. She’s done something which no other horse has done.

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“She’s had a great campaign and the fact she’s a mare on form could be dangerous. You know what [trainer] Dan Skelton can do. The other one I’m interested in is a horse called Gerri Colombe. I saw him as a youngster and he’s just got that build.

“The way he jumps and travels he could be a Grand National horse. He’s not the quickest but he did win a Grade 1 as a younger horse.

“He’s had a few problems last year, he’s come back and again he’s won his last race at Down Royal and he comes in relatively fresh. He has the look of a horse to me who could figure in a Grand National.”

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West Ham United have climbed out of the Premier League relegation zone for the first time since December following a commanding 4-0 victory over Wolves at the London Stadium.

The result simultaneously plunged north London rivals Tottenham into the bottom three.

Konstantinos Mavropanos opened the scoring with a first-half header before adding another late on, while Taty Castellanos struck twice within two minutes midway through the second half to seal the emphatic win.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side, initially nervous, shrugged off their early jitters to dismantle the league’s bottom club.

This triumph marks a significant turnaround for the Hammers, who were seven points adrift of safety and winless in 10 after a January defeat to Nottingham Forest.

Five victories in their subsequent 11 matches, alongside Tottenham’s apparent free fall, have completely reshaped the battle at the foot of the table, inching West Ham closer to survival.

Mavropanos’s opener, headed in from Jarrod Bowen’s cross just before the break, proved pivotal in setting the stage for Castellanos to double his tally for the club.

It meant Wolves’ brief revival after three games unbeaten was ended. Relegation for them could now be confirmed as early as next week away to Leeds.

Crysencio Summerville had wasted a golden chance to give West Ham the lead after 14 minutes, staying onside to receive Mateus Fernandes’s pass before leaning back and scooping his finish high over the crossbar.

Good work from Pablo to dance his way into the box set up Bowen with a chance he ought to have buried. Instead the shot was tame, bounced into the ground via a mistimed swing of the leg and into the arms of Jose Sa.

West Ham’s wastefulness in front goal and carelessness on the ball were doing little to calm a restless atmosphere.

El Hadji Malick Diouf drew howls of exasperation from home fans when he needlessly gave the ball away in his own half, letting in Adam Armstrong for a chance that whistled just over.

Armstrong then had Wolves’ best chance of the half with a flicked header that was well-held by Mads Hermansen.

Ladislav Krejci blocked from Bowen following Mavropanos’s knock-down. Wolves had now been warned amply of West Ham’s growing threat but they were breached before the interval.

Their defence failed to clear properly from a corner, the ball was sent back out wide to Bowen who crossed for Mavropanos to rise and plant his header into the corner.

Only a fine low save from Sa kept Pablo from sending a buoyant West Ham in two up at the break.

A wild two-minute spell at the start of the second half saw both sides hit a post, Wolves from Angel Gomes’s free-kick, then Bowen drove inside from the right and smacked the upright.

Castellanos settled home fans’ nerves with a finish into the corner that owed to a wonderfully inventive back-heel by Pablo to set up the chance.

Wolves gave the ball away almost immediately from the kick-off to Bowen, and he fed Castellanos to take a touch and roll in his second and West Ham’s third via a post.

Mavropanos volleyed in a late fourth for West Ham, whose momentum showed no sign of abating.

Tristan Sailor scored 14 points as St Helens dominated Catalans Dragons in a one-sided Challenge Cup quarter-final.

The Australian full-back, who also racked up 14 points in the stunning Good Friday comeback win over derby rivals Wigan Warriors last week, went over for a first-half try and kicked five goals as the ragged French side failed to test Paul Rowley’s resurgent Saints.

But St Helens suffered more injury woe as Jake Wingfield and Lewis Murphy, who scored the first try after Sailor had notched an early penalty, were forced off in the opening 32 minutes, but that could not interrupt the flow.

Sailor went over and 19-year-old Jake Davies scored his first senior try before second-half scores from Owen Dagnall and George Whitby emphasised the gulf between the sides.

Rowley has had to cope with a horrendous injury list this season and his bad luck showed no sign of abating. Saints welcomed back Alex Walmsley, George Delaney and Whitby but lost Wingfield and Murphy in the first half at the BrewDog Stadium.

It made no difference to the one-sided flow of this game, as Sailor’s fifth-minute penalty and Murphy’s sharp finish in the corner had Saints in control before the French side, fresh from a derby win of their own against Toulouse, knew what had hit them.

Sailor raced onto Daryl Clark’s shinned kick to score another as the Dragons failed to cope with the pace and intensity of the home side, who have now won seven of their past eight games in all competitions.

Clark’s speed at the ruck was creating havoc for a disorganised Catalans side, while Walmsley celebrated his return, and his 36th birthday, by repeatedly punching holes in the opposition defence.

Sailor added another penalty and after Walmsley had powered straight through the Dragons line Davies was on hand to score his milestone try and make it 20-0 at half time.

Catalans needed a strong start after the break but instead they continued to infringe and saw Julian Bousquet sin-binned for tackling Harry Robertson without the ball.

Successive penalties deep in Dragons territory ended with Sailor’s deft pass out of the tackle for Dagnall to step his way over the line, and then Whitby latched onto Jackson Hastings’ kick for another.

A rare Sailor mistake, a knock-on in front of his own posts, led to Faataape’s consolation try, but Whitby made it a memorable night for himself by sliding in to get his fingers on top of the ball after Hastings’ high kick had bounced awkwardly and evaded the grasp of Nick Cotric.

Pulse raced into a 12-1 lead with barely 10 minutes on the clock, forcing Mavericks coach Tamsin Greenway to call an early tactical timeout.

Emma Thacker scored three two-point super shots as Mavericks cut the deficit to four points by the end of the third quarter.

However, Pulse finished the match strongly to claim a victory that moved them level on 18 points with league leaders Loughborough Lightning, who face Nottingham Forest on Saturday, 11 April (19:00 BST).

“We knew we had a very strong first quarter, but then had to push on. We know we let them back into the game,” added Fadoju.

Pulse head coach Sam Bird said: “I’m pleased with how we finished the game. We showed we have a lot in the tank to finish strong.”

On Saturday LexisNexis Dragons host Birmingham Panthers in Cardiff live on BBC Sport (16:00 BST), before Manchester Thunder take on Leeds Rhinos (17:00 BST).

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (BCCI Photo)

NEW DELHI: Rajasthan Royals produced a stunning batting display as young sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi powered them to a record-breaking start against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in IPL 2026. Chasing 202, RR raced to 97/1 in the Powerplay, their highest-ever total in the first six overs and one of the best in IPL history. Sooryavanshi, who was dismissed for 78 runs off 26, led the charge inside the powerplay with a blistering 57 off just 18 balls, while Dhruv Jurel supported him with a quick 27 off 10 balls.