Yashasvi Jaiswal etched his name in the history books with fastest fifty in the history of Indian Premier League (IPL) and helped Rajasthan Royals (RR) register a massive nine-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders (RR) with 41 balls to spare to climb to third place on the points table.
RR's run chase got off to a mind-boggling start. Nitish Rana decided to bowl himself despite having experienced spinners in his ranks. Jaiswal capitalised on the opportunity and smashed him for 26 runs including two sixes and three fours. In the next over, Jaiswal went for a quick run and Jos Buttler sacrificed his wicket. Buttler got out for a three-ball duck. Jaiswal's onslaught continued and he hit Shardul Thakur for three consecutive fours in the third over. Jaiswal broke the record for fastest fifty in IPL history. He took just 13 balls to reach fifty. He broke KL Rahul and Pat Cummins’ joint record of fastest IPL fifty from 14 balls.
Jaiswal hit two more fours in the powerplay overs. Skipper Samson took on Varun Chakravarthy and smashed him for a six and a four. After powerplay overs, RR had 78/1 on the board. Sunil Narine and Suyash Sharma got into the act but could not make an impact and Jaiswal continued his domination. At the halfway stage, RR were 107/1.
In the 11th over, Samson broke free with three sixes off left-arm spinner Anukul Roy. Samson took on Chakaravarthy as well and neared his half-century. However, in the 13th over, he defended the delivery from Suyash to give Jaiswal a chance to score his second IPL ton as he was batting on 94. With three runs left, Jaiswal went for the big shot but could not hit a six. He remained unbeaten for 98 as Royals chased down 150 with 6.5 overs to spare. The southpaw's unbeaten 47-ball 98 was laced with 13 fours and five sixes. On the other end, Samson scored 48 runs from 29 balls including two fours and five sixes.
Earlier, Samson won the toss and opted to field first. Trent Boult struck in his second over as he dismissed Jason Roy for just 10 runs. Rahmanullah Gurbaz took on Sandeep Sharma and tonked him for two consecutive sixes. Gurbaz's stay at the crease was short-lived as Boult ended his cameo in his third over. Gurbaz scored 18 runs from 12 balls. After powerplay overs, KKR were 37/2. No boundaries were scored in the next two overs against Joe Root and Ravichandran Ashwin. In the ninth over, Rana hit a boundary off Root who was taken off the attack. In the 10th over, Venkatesh Iyer smashed Ashwin for two sixes in the 18-run over. KKR were 76/2 after 10 overs.
In the 11th over, Yuzvendra Chahal created IPL history as he left Dwayne Bravo behind to become all-time highest wicket-taker. Rana got out after scoring 22 runs from 17 balls including two fours. In his next over, Iyer broke free and hit Chahal for two fours and one six. Andre Russell started off slow and then hit a six only to get out next ball to KM Asif. Russell contributed with a run-a-ball 10.
Iyer reached his half-century from 39 deliveries in the 16th over. Chahal once again delivered as he got the wicket of Iyer. He scored 57 runs from 42 deliveries including two fours and four sixes. In the same over, he trapped Thakur in front of the wicket. Sandeep bowled four dot balls in the 18th over to Rinku Singh before getting hit for a six. Chahal bowled the penultimate over and got Rinku's wicket who contributed with a 16-ball 18. In the final over, Narine hit the only boundary. Sandeep ended the innings with the wicket of Narine as KKR posted a below par total of 149/8.
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