Kolkata Knight Riders all-rounder Pat Cummins not only surprised everyone with his insane unbeaten knock of 56 runs off just 15 balls against Mumbai Indians but also left himself shocked.
KKR won their third match of the season as they registered a five-wicket win over Mumbai Indians at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune on Wednesday.
Cummins stay at the crease read as 1, 6, 4, dot, dot, 6, 4, 1, 6, 4, 6, 6, 2nb, 4, 6. Thus, every shot he attempted came off for him as he played at the top of his game. Cummins didn’t even spare Jasprit Bumrah as he also took the attack against him.
Furthermore, Cummins completed his fifty off just 14 balls, matching KL Rahul’s record of the fastest fifty in IPL history. The Australian scored 35 runs in the 16th over, which was bowled by Daniel Sams.
Cummins was at his absolute best and decided to have a go when the ball was in his arc. In fact, KKR were 101-5 after 13.1 overs and it took them only 17 balls to score the remaining 61 runs.
Cummins and Venkatesh Iyer added 61 runs together in which the latter contributed only four runs. Pat Cummins was awarded the Player of the Match for his whirlwind knock.
Cummins said in the post-match presentation, “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. The hard thing after a big auction is that there are a lot of changes from last year. It’s a good mix of talent out there and quite relaxed with the boys.”
On the other hand, Venkatesh Iyer also got back into form for KKR as he scored an unbeaten knock of 50 runs off just 41 balls.
Iyer said after the game, “For everyone other than Pat it (pitch) looked tricky. 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. There will be days where you may not hit the balls as well as you want, but with the batting line-up we have it was important for me to stay there till end and play that anchor role so that the rest of the batsmen can play freely and attack from ball one.”
KKR will next face Delhi Capitals at the Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai on Sunday.
