Watch: After spending the better part of last month bowling on lifeless pitches in Pakistan, Pat Cummins made quite an entry in IPL 2022, plowing 35 runs off a Daniel Sams over on his way to the joint-fastest IPL fifty ever.
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Playing his first game this season for KKR, against MI, Cummins had a rough day with the ball, conceding 49 runs for his two wickets, with Kieron Pollard’s late assault seeing him leak 23 runs off his final over. When he returned to bat later, KKR were on 101-5 in 13 overs, still needing 61 runs, and moving to 127-5 by the end of the 15th over.
Fellow Australian Daniel Sams, bowling the next over, was then at the receiving end of a thunderous onslaught by Cummins, conceding 35 runs that hastily brought the game to an unexpected close.
Having already warmed up by smacking Tymal Mills and Jasprit Bumrah for a six apiece, Cummins crunched a straight six off Sams’ first ball, following it with a four and another six and leaving the left-armer with a helpless smile on his face. He cracked another six, and followed it with a swat off a waist-high no-ball that negated Suryakumar’s catch in the deep. The free-hit ball was duly dispatched for another four, bringing him level with KL Rahul for the joint-fastest IPL fifty of all time, off just 14 balls.
The mayhem ended with a massive six down the ground, taking KKR over the line to complete Cummins’ all-time great IPL cameo – an unbeaten 56 off a mere 15 balls.
