Rajasthan Royals kicked off their IPL 2026 campaign in style by defeating five-time Indian Premier League champions Chennai Super Kings by eight wickets at the ACA Stadium in Guwahati on Monday.

A disciplined bowling, led by the returning Ravindra Jadeja and Jofra Archer, saw the Royals restrict CSK to just 127. A 15-ball 50 by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi at the top helped the inaugural champions make short work of the chase.

After captain Riyan Parag won the toss and elected to bat first, Nandre Burger gave the Royals the early breakthrough as his brilliant outswinging delivery in the second over knocked over Sanju Samson’s off stump.

Jofra Archer wasn’t far behind as the English speedster rattled opposition captain Ruturaj Gaikwad’s stumps in the very next over.

Burger doubled his wickets tally with the first ball of his second over as his climbing delivery took a nick off Ayush Mhatre’s gloves before crashing into Dhruv Jurel’s gloves behind the wicket. It was adjudged not out initially but Parag’s DRS call proved spot on.

Sandeep Sharma joined the party as he tricked Matthew Short to chip one straight to Yashasvi Jaiswal at midwicket, leaving CSK reeling at 41/4 after the powerplay.

Introduction of spin offered no respite to the Super Kings, as Ravindra Jadeja marked his long-awaited homecoming to RR with two wickets in his very first over.

The ace all-rounder castled Sarfaraz Khan and then had Shivam Dube caught at long on to pile on the misery on his former team, reducing them to 57/6 after eight overs.

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Pacer Brijesh Sharma, making his T20 and IPL debut, also joined the party by trapping Kartik Sharma LBW for 18. Archer also scalped his second and Ravi Bishnoi registered on the wickets column.

Jamie Overton’s 36-ball 43 was a saving grace for CSK, who eventually folded in the final over for 127.

All six bowlers used by Parag in the match picked up at least one wicket.

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi walked out into the middle and looked to be in a hurry to wrap up the chase.

Sooryavanshi, who turned 15 only last week, took the attack to the opposition bowlers in his trademark fearless fashion and reached his 50 in just 15 balls - the joint third-fastest half-century ever recorded in IPL history.

Jaiswal, who was batting at the other end, holds the record for the fastest 50 in the IPL - 13 balls.

The duo put up 74 in the powerplay as the Royals raced towards their target.

Sooryavanshi, however, was unable to kick on and departed after a 17-ball 52, laced with five sixes, four boundaries. He was scoring at a strike rate of over 300 before being caught off Anshul Kamboj.

Dhruv Jurel looked to pick up right from where Sooryavanshi had left off and scored a nine-ball 18 before being cleaned up by Kamboj.

There were no further hiccups, though, as Jaiswal (38 not out off 36) and Riyan Parag (14 not out off 11) took the Royals past the finishing line comfortably.

Rajasthan Royals will face Gujarat Titans in their next IPL 2026 match at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Saturday.

Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings, IPL 2026, brief scores: CSK 127/10 in 19.4 overs (Jamie Overton 43; Ravindra Jadeja 2/18, Jofra Archer 2/19) lost to RR 128/2 in 12.1 overs (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 52; Anshul Kamboj 2/27) by eight wickets.