Pune: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) all-rounder Pat Cummins said that he surprised himself more than anyone else after his record breaking fifty against Mumbai Indians at the DY Patil Stadium in Pune on Wednesday.
Kolkata Knight Riders all-rounder Pat Cummins played a crucial knock equaling the record for the fastest fifty ever in the Indian Premier League on Wednesday. He joined KL Rahul, reaching the landmark in only 15 balls. The Australian Test captain finished with 56 off mere 15 balls, hammering four fours and six sixes.
“I probably think I’m most surprised by that innings. I’m glad that it came off. I was thinking of having a swing if it was in my area. Wasn’t trying to overthink it,” Cummins said at the post-match press presentation ceremony.
“Very satisfying to do it on my first game this season. Was just trying to pepper the shorter boundary. The hard thing after a big auction is that there are a lot of changes from last year. It’s a good mix of talent out there and quite relaxed with the boys.” The Australian Test captain added.
Regarded as one of the world’s finest pacers, the world’s top batters have a hard time against Japrit Bumrah and largely give more importance to survival than scoring runs, Cummins goes an entirely different way from others. When asked about about his duel with Bumrah Cummins said he has a very simple tactic when going up against the right-arm quick bowler and that is to “hit as hard as he can.”
“When I come into bat, it’s at the end of the game, so he’s normally trying to bowl death bowling. I have a 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,” said Cummins.
Cummins with Venkatesh Iyer (50 not out off 41), who anchored KKR’s chase, the duo shared 61 runs off just 2.1 overs to overwhelm MI’s total and wrap up the chase with 4 overs to spare.
“I was just trying to be the shot player. Venky was out there and he was batting well. I thought if I could get a few shots and make his job easy at the other end. For the shorter side of the boundary, I just try to get across and just target that area specifically. All I was trying to do was basically hit every ball for four or a six,” said the Australian Test captain who played a blistering knock in IPL in recent times.
With the win, KKR have gone to the top of the IPL 2022 table with three wins in four matches. The franchise also has a highly healthy Net Run Rate of +1.218.
