Yashasvi Jaiswal smashes the fastest fifty in IPL history
Rajasthan Royals opener Yashasvi Jaiswal has blasted the fastest fifty (13 balls) in IPL history, doing so in the recently concluded contest against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Eden Gardens. The southpaw surpassed KL Rahul, who reached the landmark in 14 deliveries for the Punjab Kings in 2018.
Jaiswal, one of the leading run-getters in IPL 2023, got to his fifty in the third over of the game, bowled by Shardul Thakur, with a single. Despite losing Jos Buttler cheaply in the second over, the youngster didn't slow down and put the KKR bowlers to the sword. He started the innings by scoring 26 runs off KKR skipper Nitish Rana's opening over.
Fastest FIFTY in the IPL
Yashasvi Jaiswal brings up his half-century in just 13 deliveries 👏👏
#TATAIPL #KKRvRR twitter.com/i/web/status/1… https://t.co/KXGhtAP2iy
Jaiswal had scored a hundred against the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium earlier in the tournament. The 21-year-old reached the elusive landmark in the 18th over off Riley Meredith's bowling with a boundary. However, it came in a losing cause.
Due to Jaiswal's remarkable efforts, RR beat KKR by nine wickets with 41 balls to spare on Thursday, May 11. He couldn't complete his hundred, however, ending up with 98* off just 47 deliveries.
Venkatesh Iyer's half-century guided KKR to 149 before Yashasvi Jaiswal's exploits
The Kolkata Knight Riders struggled after the Royals asked them to bat after winning the toss. Barring Venkatesh Iyer, no other Kolkata batter passed 30. Iyer, who made 57, was one of the four victims of Yuzvendra Chahal, falling in the 17th over.
Rana was the next highest-scorer with 22 and the home side struggled massively in the death overs, managing only 33 in the final five overs.
With outstanding figures of 4-0-25-4, Chahal also became the highest wicket-taker in the history of IPL. Left-arm seamer Trent Boult took two wickets, while Sandeep Sharma and KM Asif finished with one scalp each. This was the first time the former champions had collided this year and RR grabbed a much-needed win to stem their run of three consecutive defeats.