IPL is all about hitting fours and sixes. Except for the bowler and the fielding team, everyone present in the stadium love to watch the balls sailing over the ropes for sixes and fours. The non-stop action gives many memories and entertaining innings to all of the fans around the globe. Over these ten seasons, different players have made it special by their star performances. Here’s the list of the top 7 players who reached the score of fifty in the quickest time.
Sunil Narine (15 balls), KKR vs RCB, IPL 2017
Narine has been the secret of Kolkata's success in this year’s IPL. Captain Gautam Gambhir's ingenuity of promoting the spinner as an opener has paid off for the twice-IPL champions. When he walked in with Gambhir against Kings XI Punjab in Kolkata's first home match, their opponents were caught unaware. The surprise worked and he hammered 37 off 18 balls. He was back again as an opener against Gujarat Lions after being demoted for one game and his 42 off 15 gave Kolkata the perfect start to win the game. But, as Chris Lynn made his comeback to the Kolkata Knight Riders playing XI, it was expected that Sunil Narine will be pushed down the order and Gautam Gambhir and Lynn will open for them. But surprise in store. Narine opened the batting for KKR against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the M Chinnaswamy stadium and took it by storm scoring the fastest Indian Premier League half-century off just 15 balls.
The off-spinner dealt only in boundaries and smoked a six off S Aravind to reach the historic feat. His fifty had five fours and four sixes. The West Indian was at his attacking best and punished his countryman Samuel Badree. In a single over of Badree, the fourth of the innings, Narine hit three identical sixes towards long-off and followed it with a four. In the next over of S Aravind, in which he got his fifty, Narine took a couple and then smashed three fours in a row before Aravind bowled two wides. The fifth ball was smashed for a six as he completed his half-century.
Yusuf Pathan (15 balls), KKR vs SRH, IPL 2014
Yusuf Pathan's innings came in his side's final league game against Sunrigers Hyderabad, in which they had to chase 161 in 15.2 overs to get two shots at qualifying for the final. When Yusuf Pathan walked in, they needed 106 from 47 balls. He was dropped before he had scored a run. He was dropped again when he was on 15. Neither was a difficult chance. And then, out of nowhere, it all came together for him. When Yusuf mowed Dale Steyn over deep midwicket for the fifth six of his innings, he had reached 50 in 15 balls. He took 26 off that over - 4, 6, 6, 4, 4, 2. By the time Yusuf holed out for 72 off 22 balls, the equation had come down to less than a run a ball and Knight Riders closed out the chase in just 14.2 overs.
Suresh Raina (16 balls), CSK vs KXIP ,2nd Qualifier, IPL 2014
Raina's 87 off 25 arguably remains the best IPL innings in a losing cause, and his blistering hits took his side to the highest ever Powerplay score in IPL history till that time. If not for a mindless run-out in the 7th over, Raina was well on his way to the fastest hundred in T20 history and putting the game to an end. Raina found himself in the middle in the first over of the chase, after Mitchell Johnson had sent back Faf du Plessis with a short ball that had gotten big on him. As soon as he arrived, Raina seemed to be batting in a bubble. He tore into Sandeep Sharma in the second over, shredding him for three fours and a six through and over his favourite extra-cover and midwicket areas. Three fours and three sixes - the pick of them a pull over deep backward square leg off Johnson - followed in the next three overs, taking Raina to 55 off 18. He had reached his fifty in 16 balls, and became the second-quickest to the mark in the IPL.
Chris Gayle (17 balls), RCB vs PW, IPL 2013
Gayle's innings is the only one on this list which resulted in a hundred. He went on to smash the fastest T20 hundred off 30 balls and finished with the format's highest score - an incredible 175 off 66 balls. Technically, his second fifty was even faster, taking him from 50 to 100 off just 13 balls. Among all his dominant IPL performances over the years, this innings remains his magnum opus.
Adam Gilchrist (17 balls), DC vs DD, 1st semi-final, IPL 2009
Adam Gilchrist was one of the few factors for Deccan Chargers to win their maiden IPL title in the second edition in 2009. Gilchrist's big-match temperament came to the fore in the 1st semi-final, as he punished Delhi's bowling attack to get to what was then the fastest fifty in IPL's two-year history. He scored 85 off 35 balls while chasing a score of 155 to qualify for the final. He took particular exception to Dirk Nannes' first over, with five hits to the fence. By the time he got out, a Chargers win was all but sealed with nearly ten overs to go.
Chris Morris (17 balls), DD vs GL, IPL 2016
Morris walked to the crease when Delhi were struggling at 57 for 4 in 10.4 overs chasing 173, but after that the South African allrounder took control and blasted a 32-ball 82. His innings was studded with four boundaries and eight sixes as he hit 7 of his first 17 balls for monstrous sixes down the ground. He completed his half-century off just 17 balls, but even his fighting knock was not enough to overcome their slow start, as they lost a thriller by 1 run.
Kieron Pollard (17 balls), MI vs KKR, IPL 2016
Pollard put on one of his regular Wankhede exhibitions, swatting Knight Riders' hapless bowling attack, to complete a six-wicket win over the Kolkata Knight Riders. The West Indies star came to the crease with his side teetering at 4-106 in response to KKR’s 5-174 following a stunning boundary catch from Queensland’s Chris Lynn to dismiss Jos Buttler for 15 in the 13th over. But Pollard seized the initiative with three sixes from one Rajagopal Sathish over and six in total on his way to a 17-ball half-century that overshadowed a crucial 68 not out from skipper Rohit Sharma that anchored the home side’s innings. Pollard sealed the win with his sixth maximum from the final ball of the 18th over, leaving him on 51 not out off 17 balls - a strike rate of exactly 300.
Post a Comment
0 comments
Dear readers, after reading the Content please ask for advice and to provide constructive feedback Please Write Relevant Comment with Polite Language.Your comments inspired me to continue blogging. Your opinion much more valuable to me. Thank you.