Rajasthan Royals' Yashasvi Jaiswal broke KL Rahul's record of scoring the fastest fifty in Indian Premier League (IPL) history, bringing up the milestone in 13 balls against Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday.
Jaiswal has been in great form with the bat in the 2023 IPL, having already registered a hundred earlier in the tournament.
The 21-year-old batter is now just one run behind Faf du Plessis in the highest run-getters list of this edition with 575 runs. He has smashed four half-centuries and a hundred at the strike-rate of 167.15.
"It was a nice feeling today. It is not like everything I wanted happens, I prepare well and I trust in myself. I know the results will come. The winning shot was a great feeling, I wanted to finish the game and winning the game has been my motto," Jaiswal said after the win.
"I'm blessed and grateful, I'm trying my best. (On whether he feels he missed out on a century) I think the net run rate was the only thing in our mind, me and Sanju were only talking about finishing the game quickly."
Putting KKR into bat first, Yuzvendra Chahal claimed 4-25, in the process becoming the highest wicket-taker in the history of IPL.
Chasing 150 runs to win, RR got off to a brilliant start, courtesy Jaiswal, who hit opposition captain Nitish Rana all over the park, scoring 26 runs off the first over. He did not stop there and went on to score an unbeaten 98 from 47 balls.
Jaiswal had captain Sanju Samson for company for the remainder of the innings after opening partner Jos Buttler was run out for a duck. The pair went on to stictch a 151-run partnership, with RR leapfrogging to third place in the IPL standings.
