Kolkata Knight Riders’ Pat Cummins equals record for fastest IPL 50

Pat Cummins on Wednesday smashed the Mumbai Indians bowlers all over the park to single-handedly win the game for the Kolkata Knight Riders. The Aussie smashed his third IPL fifty in 14 balls equalling KL Rahul’s record. 

Playing his first game of the IPL 2022 season, Cummins scored 56 runs in 15 balls. The Australia Test captain smashed 35 runs in the 16th over, bowled by Daniel Sams, to close the game. The Kolkata Knight Riders won the match by five wickets with 24 balls to spare. 

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Coming into bat when KKR were 101/5 in the 14th over, Cummins took on Tymal Mills for a six over deep square leg and then followed it up with a four behind point. The 28-year-old then smashed Mumbai Indians’ best bowler Jasprit Bumrah for a maximum and a boundary before closing the proceedings in Sams’ over. 

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The record for the fastest fifty in the IPL was held by KL Rahul, from his days at the Punjab Kings. Cummins equalled the record on the second last ball of the innings with a four through square leg. 

Fastest 50s in IPL (balls faced)

14 KL Rahul vs DC Mohali 2018

14 Pat Cummins vs MI Pune 2022 *

15 Yusuf Pathan vs SRH Kolkata 2014

15 Sunil Narine vs RCB Bengaluru 2017

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Talking about Cummins’ display after the loss, MI captain Rohit Sharma said that he never expected the Aussie to play like that. 

“We had the game till the 15th over, but then Cummins was brilliant,” Sharma said. 

Cummins’ teammate Venkatesh Iyer, who also scored a fifty, said that the pitch looked tricky for everyone but the pacer. 

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“Really happy that I was there till the end, Gotta give it to Pat, unbelievable hitting on display on a pitch that was actually very tricky to bat on,” Iyer said. 

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).