Pat Cummins was at his lethal best with the bat during the Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) IPL 2022 game against the Mumbai Indians (MI) on Wednesday at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune. The right-hander equaled KL Rahul as the batter with the fastest fifty in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) off a mere 14 balls.

After coming to bat with KKR needing 61 runs off 41 balls, Cummins threw the kitchen sink at everything to score an unbeaten 15-ball 56, laced with four fours and six sixes. On the back of his late onslaught, the Men in Gold and Purple chased down 162 with four overs remaining.

Cummins was also adjudged the Player of the Match for a masterful knock under pressure against the five-time IPL champions. After KKR’s thumping five-wicket win, Venkatesh Iyer and Cummins had a friendly chat where they talked about the knocks they played.

Lauding Cummins for his match-winning knock, Iyer asked, “What is the secret behind this unbelievable hitting of yours?”

The 28-year-old Cummins said that he doesn’t mind playing ambitious and aerial strokes if the ball is in his zone.

“I don’t know, you guys do the hard work upfront. So, when I come in, I just try to hit big sixes, try and think clearly. Between my area, I’m just gonna go for it. If it’s not my area, I’ll just try to take a single. As I said, when I’m batting at the end of the game, it’s not swinging so it’s a bit easier for me,” Cummins said.

Apart from playing the stupendous knock, Cummins also got the two important wickets of Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav.

Venkatesh Iyer on playing the anchor’s role against MI

Iyer also played a crucial role in KKR’s win over MI after he stayed not out on 50 off 41 balls with six fours and a six. The southpaw felt that the pitch wasn’t as easy for batting as Cummins made it look like.

“Felt really good. Barring you, everyone felt the wicket was a little bit tricky to bat on. But that was some unbelievable display of hitting for me. It was very important for me to try and stay till the end, play that anchor role,” Iyer said.