Fastest 50s in IPL history

#4 Kieron Pollard – Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders, 2016, 17 balls

Pollard’s brutal half-century helped MI to victory

Kolkata Knight Riders had a brilliant start to their campaign last year and had won four of their opening five matches with the only defeat coming against the Mumbai Indians at Kolkata. At the return leg at Wankhede, Mumbai needed a victory to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Mumbai Indians’ skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and sent the Knight Riders to bat first. A gritty half-century from captain Gautam Gambhir assisted by Robin Uthappa’s quick-fire 36 and Yusuf Pathan’s 8-ball cameo of 19 took the Knight Riders to 174/5 in their 20 overs.

In reply, the Mumbai Indians lost opener Parthiv Patel early but a 59-run partnership for the second wicket between Rohit Sharma and Ambati Rayudu brought Mumbai Indians right back into the match. After Rayudu was dismissed for 32, Krunal Pandya and Jos Buttler could not stay at the crease for long and the Mumbai Indians were 106/4 in 13 overs, needing 69 to win from the final seven overs with the asking rate nearing 10.

At this stage, the flamboyant Kieron Pollard came in to join Sharma at the crease. The two began dealing in boundaries till the next two overs before the swashbuckling West Indian smashed three sixes off Rajagopal Sathish in the 16th over to turn the match in favour of the Mumbai Indians. In the 18th over, Pollard once again hit three sixes of Jaydev Unadkat to win the match for the Mumbai Indians.

Through the six that finished the match, Pollard also scored the joint fastest fifty of the tournament in 17 deliveries just a day after Chris Morris scored his fifty in the same amount of deliveries.