Pat Cummins returned to the Kolkata Knight Riders starting XI following the completion of his quarantine after landing in India. In his first IPL 2022 match, the Australian Test captain proved to be the hero and match-winner for his side.
He picked up two wickets and although he went for plenty of runs in the final over which helped Mumbai Indians score over 160, he more than made up for with his pyrotechnics with the bat. Cummins came in to bat when KKR were at 101/5 and were struggling after having lost Andre Russell. Although Venkatesh Iyer, on the other end, had been on the crease for a long time, he didn’t exactly look fluent at a strike rate of 121.9.
It was then that Pat Cummins came and single-handedly rescued the game for the two-time IPL champions with an almost unbelievable knock. He smacked Jasprit Bumrah, Tymal Mills, and Daniel Sams for fun and equalled KL Rahul for the joint-fastest fifty in IPL history after reaching the figure in only 14 balls. Cummins also hit the winning six for KKR and remained not out on 56 off 15.
Cummins going after Bumrah was especially entertaining to watch as they are two of the best fast bowlers in the whole world. The Australian mentioned that since there were so few overs left, he had no option but to go after the Indian pacer.
“When I come into bat, it’s at the end of the game, so he’s normally trying to bowl death bowling. I have pretty clear thinking of just trying to clear the ropes. Whenever I am facing him, I am just trying to hit it as hard as I can. Fortunately, it has come off a few times,” Cummins said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
When enquired whether he had any specific plan in mind after coming to the crease at a difficult time, Pat Cummins said that he only wanted to ease the pressure on Venkatesh Iyer, who was batting well at the other end.
“The plan was for me to be the shot player. Venky was out there and he was batting well. I felt if I could try and get a couple away, that would make his job a little easier at the other end. For the short boundary, I just tried to get across. I knew they were trying to bowl outside off. (Plan was to) target those areas specifically. All I was trying to do was basically hit every ball for four or six,” he said.
