IPL 2022: “I am probably more surprised”, says Cummins after his blistering knock

Pat Cummins said yesterday that he was “more surprised” of all for scoring the fastest fifty in IPL that helped Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) grab the remarkable victory over Mumbai Indians.

The 28-year-old Australian Test skipper came in at seven to join Venkatesh Iyer. The pair smashed through the Indians while chasing the target of 162 with Cummins scoring 56 off 16 balls.

KKR won the game by five wickets with four overs to spare in Pune.

Cummins smashed six sixes, including the game-winning one over the fence in a 35-run Daniel Sams over, and Venkatesh had the finest seat in the house.

He equaled KL Rahul’s 50 off 14 balls as Mumbai faced their third defeat in the current season.

“I am probably more surprised (with that innings),” man of the match Cummins, a pace bowler who took two wickets in the match, said after the knock.

“I think I am batting at my best when I don’t think too much. I just try and swing hard and fortunately today it came off.”

KKR bought Cummins for $1 million, which was a dip from $2.7 million in 2019.

Right-arm pacer scored his third half-century in the IPL with his best score of 66 unbeaten in the previous season.

He described his inning as “really satisfying” after he completed his mandatory quarantine on return from Australia.

Venkatesh’s 50 off 41 balls was overshadowed by Cummins’ knock as the pair put on a 61 off 14 balls stand.

Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma described the defeat as “impossible to comprehend” after Suryakumar Yadav’s unbeaten 36-ball 52 guided Mumbai to 161-4.

With an offensive stand of 83 with Tilak Varma, Suryakumar, who had missed the team’s first two matches due to injury, helped Mumbai recover from a sluggish start.

Suryakumar and Varma, who made an unbroken 38 off 27 deliveries, took on the opposing bowling before Kieron Pollard completed the innings with a flourish with his five-ball 22.

Mumbai scored 76 runs in the last five overs thanks to the efforts of all three hitters, including 23 off the 20th – when Pollard hit Cummins for three sixes.

But Cummins’ innings put everything else in the shadow, propelling Kolkata to the top of the 10-team table with three wins in four games, anchored by Shreyas Iyer.

After the western state of Maharashtra dropped all Covid limits at the weekend, the audience capacity for league matches at the four stadiums in Mumbai and Pune soared to 50% from the initial 25% on Wednesday.

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