Jaiswal hits IPL’s fastest 50 as Rajasthan thrash KKR

Saturday, 13 May 2023 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Yashasvi Jaiswal

KOLKATA, AFP: Yashasvi Jaiswal on Thursday hit the fastest 50 in Indian Premier League history, in just 13 balls, as Rajasthan Royals hammered Kolkata Knight Riders by nine wickets.

Jaiswal hit six fours and three sixes on his way to his 50 in front of a stunned Eden Gardens, beating the previous record of 14 balls held jointly by KL Rahul and Pat Cummins.

The 21-year-old, who moved to Mumbai as a child and lived in a tent to pursue his cricketing dreams, hit 26 runs in the first over off Kolkata captain Nitish Rama.

The left-hander only missed out on a century because Rajasthan chased down the modest target of 150 with a massive 41 balls to spare, with Jaiswal unbeaten on 98 with 12 fours and five sixes off 47.

“I prepare well and trust myself to execute my shots. I know the results will come. I wanted to finish the game and winning the game was my motto,” the player of the match said afterwards.“I was only thinking about the net run rate (for Rajasthan) and not my century,” he said.

The only hiccup was Jos Buttler being run out for a duck in the second over, but Rajasthan captain Sanju Samson (48 not out) joined Jaiswal to see the visitors home in the 14th over.

Jaiswal’s astonishing innings was also the second fastest in T20 history after India’s Yuvraj Singh clubbed a half century off only 12 balls against England at the 2007 World Cup in South Africa.

Jaiswal won a place in the Mumbai state team in 2019 and became the youngest batsman, at 17 years and 292 days, to score a domestic one-day double century.

The left-hander’s big break came when he was snapped up by Rajasthan Royals for $ 338,000 in the 2019 auction of the world’s richest T20 tournament, although his first three seasons were unspectacular.

The previous quickest 50 in the IPL, scored in 14 balls, was by Rahul in 2018 for Kings XI Punjab, a feat matched by Cummins in 2022 playing for Mumbai Indians.

The ease of the Rajasthan’s first victory in four matches meant that Joe Root, in only his second IPL match, again did not need to bat, although the former England captain bowled a tidy two overs for 14 runs.

Kolkata’s innings got off to a poor start with Trent Boult dismissing both Jason Roy for 10 and fellow opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz for 18. Venkatesh Iyer top-scored for the hosts with 57.

Kolkata had won the previous two games but the loss puts them in seventh place as the IPL nears the business end of the tournament. Rajasthan are third behind Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings.