Vaibhav Sooryavanshi came very close to scoring a landmark hundred in the Duleep Trophy semifinal on Monday. However, the 15-year-old batter fell just eight runs short of his century.
Playing for East Zone against Central Zone at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground 1 in Bengaluru, Sooryavanshi scored a confident 92 off 81 balls. He missed his maiden Duleep Trophy hundred, but his innings once again showed why Indian cricket is keeping a close eye on the young left-hander.
Sooryavanshi also added another important record to his growing first-class career.
Sooryavanshi falls eight runs short
Sooryavanshi opened the innings with experienced Bengal batter Abhimanyu Easwaran. The youngster had scored only eight runs on his Duleep Trophy debut, but he looked much more comfortable in the semifinal.
He did not try to attack every ball from the start. Instead, Sooryavanshi showed patience and waited for the right balls to score runs.
When the Central Zone bowlers bowled short, wide or overpitched deliveries, he quickly took advantage of them.
Sooryavanshi attacked Aryan Pandey, Yash Thakur, Arshad Khan, Saransh Jain and Harsh Dubey during his stay at the crease. He mixed controlled shots with the aggressive batting that has become one of his biggest strengths.
The teenager reached his half-century from just 42 balls.
Sooryavanshi continued to attack after reaching fifty and moved closer to his maiden Duleep Trophy hundred.
Batting on 81, he hit Saransh Jain, who made his India Test debut against Sri Lanka last week, for a four and a six. Those two boundaries took Sooryavanshi into the nineties.
However, he could not complete the job.
2⃣ in 2⃣
Harsh Dubey finally provides the breakthroughs Central Zone desperately needed 👌#DuleepTrophy | #CZvEZ
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/kyExeix2VY pic.twitter.com/XnLgwPgsvD
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) August 31, 2026
On the second ball of the 26th over, Sooryavanshi tried to take on Harsh Dubey but found Arshad Khan, who took the catch.
He walked back after scoring 92 off 81 balls.
Only eight runs separated him from a memorable century.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi creates Duleep Trophy history
Although Sooryavanshi missed his century, he had already made history by scoring his fifty.
At 15 years and 157 days, he became the youngest player to score a fifty in the Duleep Trophy.
He broke the previous record held by Laxman Singh. Singh had scored a Duleep Trophy half-century at the age of 16 years and 23 days in 1969.
This is another major age-related record for Sooryavanshi, who continues to make headlines with his performances at a very young age.
The fifty was also his second half-century in first-class cricket.
His first came during the previous Ranji Trophy season for Bihar. He smashed a 33-ball fifty against Meghalaya.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has now shown that he can score quickly while also adjusting his game to the demands of red-ball cricket.
He also received a second chance during his innings after being dropped on 40. The mistake did not affect his confidence. He continued to attack the Central Zone bowlers and moved closer to his century.
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Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Abhimanyu Easwaran give East Zone a strong start
Sooryavanshi also played a major role in giving East Zone a strong start.
He and Easwaran added an impressive 162-run opening partnership after Central Zone were bowled out for 266.
As we are writing this article, East Zone had reached 183/2 after 31 overs. Easwaran was unbeaten on 58, while Sudip Kumar Gharami was batting on 16.
East Zone were still 83 runs behind Central Zone’s first-innings total, with the lunch break bringing the latest session to an end.
The opening partnership gave East Zone the perfect response after Central Zone posted 266.
Central Zone bowled out for 266
Earlier, East Zone captain Ishan Kishan won the toss and decided to bowl first.
His bowlers soon made the decision look good.
Mukesh Kumar and Abhijit Sarkar took three wickets each, while Mohammed Shami and Md Kounain Quraishi picked up two wickets each.
Central Zone were bowled out for 266 in 80.1 overs.
Check the full scoreboard of this match HERE
Rinku Singh top-scored for Central Zone with 60 off 88 balls, while wicketkeeper-opener Aryan Juyal scored 46.
Kishan, however, could not spend the entire morning on the field. He suffered a blow to his right wrist and left the field for some time.
During his absence, Sooryavanshi took charge as East Zone’s stand-in captain for around an hour on either side of lunch.
The youngster also successfully reviewed a decision during that period and helped East Zone get an important wicket.
Kishan later returned to the field and took back the captaincy.
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Another strong performance from Vaibhav Sooryavanshi
Missing the century will be disappointing for Sooryavanshi, especially after getting so close to the three-figure mark.
However, his overall performance remains a big positive.
At just 15, scoring 92 in a major domestic competition is a huge achievement. More importantly, Sooryavanshi has shown that he can perform in red-ball cricket as well.
His record-breaking Duleep Trophy fifty, his Ranji Trophy performances and now his 92 against Central Zone show his growing confidence in the longer format.
The century escaped him in Bengaluru.
But Sooryavanshi has once again given Indian cricket another reason to keep watching his progress.
What do you think? Will this be the beginning of a new thing for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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