Pat Cummins

Australian skipper Pat Cummins has gone ballistic with the bat in the Indian Premier League, taking countryman Daniel Sams for 35 off an over to help ...

18 balls later, the match was over. “That was cool. Batting at number seven, the dismissal of Andre Russell brought Cummins to the crease with the score at 5/101 in the 14th over.

Australian Test captain Pat Cummins equals the record for the fastest 50 in IPL history as one Daniel Sams over goes for 35 runs.

An outstanding performance." Don't try to overthink it," Cummins said. "I was just watching the ball fly," he said. He reached his 50 in just 14 balls, equalling the record for fastest 50 in the IPL by Lokesh Rahul in 2018, and then cracked the next ball back over Sams' head for six to win the match. The Knight Riders had needed 35 from 30 balls and Cummins got them all in just that one over, with his final blow allowing them to breeze to their victory target on 5-162. In all, Cummins, playing his first match for KKR this season, smashed an unbeaten 56 off just 15 balls, with six sixes and four fours - at a strike rate of 373.33 - to power the Knight Riders to a five-wicket victory over shell-shocked Mumbai Indians.

What can't he do? Cummins equals IPL record in all-time epic ... with the bat.

Venkatesh hit an unbeaten 50 off 41 balls but his knock was completely overshadowed by the Cummins blitz as the pair put on 61 off 18 balls after Andre Russell returned to the pavilion. I just try and swing hard and fortunately today it came off.” The 28-year-old Australian Test skipper joined Venkatesh Iyer with Kolkata on 101-5 while chasing 162 and tore into the Mumbai attack with his 56 off 15 balls as the two-time champions reached their target with four overs to spare in Pune.

Pat Cummins proved he's more than a fast bowler after making history in the Indian Premier League.

“We had the game until the 15th over. Rahul had scored a 14-ball half century against Delhi Capitals in the 2018 season. The ball seems to fly here, so just hitting in the shorter side.”

Australia's Test skipper hammers a half-century off just 14 balls, the fastest ever by an Australian male and the equal fastest in IPL history, ...

It's the fastest fifty ever by an Australian in men's T20 cricket and two balls short of the all-time record of 12 balls, which is held by Yuvraj Singh, Chris Gayle and Hazratullah Zazai. He reached his fifty in just 14 balls, equalling the all-time record for fastest fifty in the IPL by KL Rahul in 2018, and then cracked the next ball back over Sams' head for six to win the match. Australia's Test skipper hammers a half-century off just 14 balls, the fastest ever by an Australian male and the equal fastest in IPL history, as fellow Aussie Daniel Sams goes the distance

Yes, it was a case of merely aiming "to hit every ball" and having it come off, but also the various skillsets in play did set Cummins up to steal the show.

Except maybe for one cue-end to a wide Bumrah yorker, but even there he intended to hit the ball in that general area. "Welcome to Twenty20 cricket," he thought to himself then, having just come off a gruelling Test series in Pakistan where he toiled for 110.1 overs for 12 wickets, thejoint-highest in the series, and a 1-0 series win. Especially if he is batting with a specialist batter who prefers spin to pace - Venkatesh has a strike rate of 142 and an average of 60 against the slow stuff as against 122 and 28 against pace. It is apt that a person with unfair amounts of cricketing talent and fitness comes up with the best description of the innings. The plan has been for him to be at his most efficient in adverse circumstances but make sure he bats through and delays taking his chances as much as he can. In all, 48 not-in-control runs will be scored behind the wicket in this match, the most for a single game in the last six IPL seasons.