Pat Cummins’ record 14-ball fifty: From Rohit Sharma to Shreyas Iyer, a look at who’s saying what

Australia Test skipper Pat Cummins joined Venkatesh Iyer with Kolkata Knight Riders on 101-5 while chasing 162 and tore into the Mumbai Indians attack with his 56 off 15 balls to record the joint-fastest IPL fifty as KKR reached their target with four overs to spare.

Cummins’ effort equalled KL Rahul’s 50 off 14 balls for Kings XI Punjab in 2018 as Mumbai slipped to their third loss in as many matches.

Also read: Did that really happen: Reactions to Pat Cummins’ amazing 15-ball 56

Venkatesh Iyer had the best seat in the house as Cummins hit six sixes including the winning shot over the fence in a 35-run Daniel Sams over. Together with Iyer, Cummins, who came in at number six, shared 61 runs in just 2.1 overs to overhaul MI’s total of 161 for four.

Having conceded 23 runs in the final over when MI batted, Cummins clobbered the MI bowlers to all parts of the ground to take KKR home in grand fashion. The knock took Kolkata, led by Shreyas Iyer, to the top of the 10-team points table with three wins from four matches.

The feat left many, including Cummins himself, surprised, his captain Shreyas Iyer in disbelief and the opposition captain Rohit Sharma understandably frustrated.

Here’s a look at who’s saying what about Pat Cummins’ freakish innings against MI:

Pat Cummins:

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. 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.

Shreyas Iyer:

Extraordinary! I couldn’t believe the way (Cummins) was hitting the ball. Because yesterday in the nets, he was getting bowled now and then, I was batting in the nets beside him then. During the timeout, the plan was for Venky to drop anchor and tell Pat to just swing at everything because that’s what he was doing before too. When I went into bat, I told him to just time the ball because he was overhitting the ball a bit.

Rohit Sharma:

Never expected him to come and play like that! Lot of credit to him for the way he played. With the bat we didn’t start well. Over the last four overs, to get 160-plus was a great effort. We had the game until the 15th over, but the way Cummins played... We thought we could have them. But this will be hard to digest - the way it turned out to be in the last few overs. There is a lot of hard work we need to put in.

Venkatesh Iyer:

For everyone other than Pat, it (pitch) looked tricky. Really happy that I was there till the end. Gotta give it to Pat, unbelievable hitting on display on a pitch that was actually very tricky to bat on.

(With inputs from AFP and PTI)