AHMEDABAD - Prithvi Shaw hit the fastest 50 of the season as Delhi Capitals hammered Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday to go second in the Indian Premier League.
The 21-year-old opener hit six fours from the first over of Delhi's innings and raced to 50 in 18 balls, two faster than the previous best by Punjab Kings' Deepak Hooda against Rajasthan Royals.
Kolkata never recovered from Shivam Mavi's disastrous opening over. Delhi passed 50 in 22 balls and sped to their winning total of 156 for three in 16.2 overs.
Shaw, who has been acclaimed as one of India's brightest but most unpredictable talents, finished on 82 from 41 balls with three sixes and 11 fours. Fellow opener Shikhar Dhawan made 46 with a six and four boundaries.
The pair put on a batting masterclass in their 132 partnership.
Kolkata were also let down by their middle order batting. Their 154 for six relied on a 27-ball 45 by Andre Russell and Shubman Gill's 43. Captain Eoin Morgan was caught by Steve Smith off his second ball without scoring.
Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins took all three Delhi wickets to fall.
The win lifted Delhi to second place in the eight-team league, with Chennai Super Kings leading by a better run rate.
Captain Rishabh Pant had been aiming to improve Delhi's run rate and gave that order to Dhawan and Shaw.
"He's a talented player, we all know that. But if you give him confidence he can do wonders," said Pant of his young maestro.
"I was only telling him to play his normal game."
Earlier Quinton de Kock hit an unbeaten 70 from 50 balls as reigning champions Mumbai Indians beat Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets. The win kept Mumbai in fourth place.
The South African hit two sixes and six boundaries as Mumbai reached 172 with nine balls left.
Having scored just 47 runs from four previous innings this season, it was a welcome return to IPL big hitting for de Kock.
Mumbai captain Rohit Sharma said the win was "Absolutely brilliant. We needed this win badly after a couple of losses, we did pretty much everything right from ball one."
The Royals, struggling without injured England stars Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes, hit 171 for four with captain Sanju Samson scoring 42 and Jos Buttler 41.
Before the game, Rajasthan announced that they are giving US$1 million to buy oxygen and equipment for Indian hospitals struggling with a devastating new coronavirus surge.
Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar gave US$135,000 to the Mission Oxygen charity providing equipment to hospitals that have been overwhelmed by pandemic patients. - AFP. April 30, 2021
