IPL 2023: Yashasvi Jaiswal slams fastest 50 in tournament history as Royals demolishes Knight Riders

Yashasvi Jaiswal continued his sensational run in the Indian Premier League (IPL) by smashing the fastest 50 in tournament history as former champion Rajasthan Royals (RR) cruised to a nine-wicket win over former two-time champion Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to resurrect its playoff hopes at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday.

Records tumbled at the Eden Gardens as Yuzvendra Chahal became IPL's leading wicket-taker before completing a brilliant 4/25 to restrict KKR to a below-par 149/8. On a day KKR batters struggled to time the ball, 21-year-old Jaiswal showed the way by bringing up the fastest fifty in the history of IPL in just 13 balls, bettering the previous record held by KL Rahul and Pat Cummins (14 balls each).

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Jaiswal remained two runs shy of a century (98 from 47 balls), a knock studded with 12 fours and five sixes as RR cantered to victory in 13.1 overs. Samson gave exemplary support to the southpaw with a 48 not out from 29 balls as the duo shared an unbroken match-winning partnership of 121 runs off just 69 balls.

The win with 41 balls to spare also took it to the third spot (12 points from 12 matches), dramatically boosting its net run rate (0.0633) as the playoff race heats up. It is all but over for KKR, which slipped to seventh place (10 points, 12 matches). Jaiswal made his intention clear in the first over itself when KKR skipper Nitish Rana made a bold move to bowl himself.

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Wasting no time, Jaiswal seized the opportunity and smashed Rana for two sixes and two fours in a row in a 26-run over. He hit Shardul Thakur with a hat-trick of fours to race to his fifty in the third over as RR virtually sealed the issue, scoring 78/1 inside the PowerPlay (PP). To pile on the KKR misery, Sunil Narine dropped an easy catch when Samson was on 16.

The skipper came alone when he smoked Jharkhand left-arm spinner Anukul Roy for three sixes in a 20-run over. On a day RR dished out an eye-grabbing fielding display, Chahal (187 wickets) eclipsed Dwayne Bravo (183) to become the all-time leading wicket-taker of the IPL when he struck off his second ball to dismiss KKR skipper Rana (22; 17b) in the 11th over.

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Chahal's breakthrough came just when KKR looked to step up after a pathetic start when two spectacular catches of Shimron Hetmyer and Sandeep Sharma set the tone. Both came in Trent Boult's successive overs as the Kiwi left-arm pacer returned with 2/15 from his three overs on his return.

After an expensive second over when he leaked 15 runs, Chahal returned in the death overs and dismissed KKR topscorer Venkatesh Iyer (57; 42b) and Shardul Thakur (1) in four balls. He ended his spell dismissing the latest KKR sensation Rinku Singh (16), in the penultimate over to also become the leading wicket-taker this season (21).

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Put in on a dry Eden wicket, KKR frontline batters came a cropper, as Venkatesh held the fort and returned to form with a fighting 50. From being two off 12 balls, Venkatesh paced his innings well and raced to a 39-ball fifty. But he slashed a wide delivery from Chahal to be brilliantly caught by Boult.

Andre Russell (10) failed to make it big after he was promoted to No.5 and fell to KM Asif (1/34). KKR, 58/2 after nine overs, looked to seize the momentum after taking a strategic time-out in the 10th over. Venkatesh finally broke free, smashing Ashwin for back-to-back sixes, while Rana ended the over with an elegant four through extra-cover to take them to 76/2 at the midway mark. KKR looked on course for a decent total before Chahal triggered a mid-innings collapse.