Pune | Jagran Sports Desk: Fast-bowler Pat Cummins on Wednesday equalled the record for the fastest fifty in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) as he helped his side Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) beat Mumbai Indians (MI) by five wickets here at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune in the 14th game of this season.
Coming onto bat in the 14th over after the KKR had lost half of their side, Cummins blasted 56 off 15 balls, while opener Venkatesh Iyer remained not out on 50, helping their side win the crucial match against MI. With his innings, Cummins joined KL Rahul to hit the fastest fifty (off just 14 balls) in the IPL.
Rahul, who is now the captain of the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), had achieved this feat against Delhi Capitals (DC) in 2018.
Chasing a target of 162, KKR didn’t get a good start after Ajinkya Rahane was out for just 7 runs off 11 balls. The wickets kept tumbling at the other end skipper Shreyas Iyer, Sam Billings, Nitish Rana and Andre Russell, scoring just 10, 17, 8 and 11 runs respectively. However, Iyer was keeping the scoreboard running for the KKR, before Cummins showed his hitting abilities to help his side win with four overs to spare.
“I probably think I’m most surprised by that innings. I’m glad that it came off. I was thinking of having a swing if it was in my area. Wasn’t trying to overthink it. Very satisfying to do it on my first game this season. Was just trying to pepper the shorter boundary,” said Cummins after winning Player of the Match award.
For Mumbai Indians, Suryakumar Yadav made 52 off 36 balls, while Tilak Varma chipped in with 38 in 27 deliveries, helping their side score 161 runs for the loss of four wickets inside their 20 overs.
Skipper Rohit Sharma’s poor form continued as he scored just 3 runs off 12 balls before getting out to Umesh Yadav. Ishan Kishan (14 off 21 balls) and Dewald Brevis (29 off 19 balls) got a start, but had failed to capitalise their innings.
In the end, Pollard (22 off 5 balls) and Tilak Varma helped Mumbai seat a 162-run target for Kolkata Knight Riders.
“Never expected him to come and play like that [on Cummins]. Lot of credit. The pitch got better and better to bat as the game went on. It was holding up initially. Overall it was a good pitch. With the bat we did not start well, in the last 4-5 overs to get 70+ was a great effort from the batting unit. We did not bowl according to the plan. We had the game till the 15th over, but then Cummins was brilliant,” said Rohit while lauding Cummins.
Brief scores:
Mumbai Indians: 161/4 in 20 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 52, Tilak Varma; Pat Cummins 2/49, Umesh Yadav 1/25).
Kolkata Knight Riders: 162/5 in 16 overs (Venkatesh Iyer 50 not out, Pat Cummins 56 not out 56; Murugan Ashwin 2/25).
