RCB’s Shepherd slams second-fastest fifty in IPL, leaves CSK bowlers gasping

BENGALURU: Romario Shepherd blazed his way to the second-fastest fifty in the Indian Premier League with his brute force against Chennai Super Kings at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday.

He walked out to bat in the death overs and left a mark in the 14 deliveries he faced in a run-scoring fest in Bengaluru. He had the home crowd on the edge of their seats with his powerful hitting.

Shepherd is tied with Pat Cummins and KL Rahul for the elusive milestone behind Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 13-ball effort against Kolkata Knight Riders in 2023. After RCB lost Virat Kohli, the middle order collapsed, and RCB was nowhere near affecting a formidable total.

With two overs left and the scoreboard reading 159/5, Shepherd staged a performance that will stay with the diehard RCB fans for years. He began his ruthless onslaught in the pulsating clash by muscling the ball away for back-to-back maximums with brute power. Fortune was indeed on his side as the third ball took the top edge and flew to the fence for a four.

The explosive Caribbean batter tormented Khaleel and Chennai by smacking the ball with two sixes on the trot. The no-ball on the fourth delivery made Khaleel run out of ideas, but he came back with a dot on the fifth one. Khaleel tried to get out of jail, but a four on the final ball saw RCB take away 33 runs from the penultimate over. Khaleel’s bashing was the most expensive over for CSK in IPL.

Pathirana tried to contain Shepherd in the final over, but the West Indies hard-hitter drilled the ball for a four and then shovelled it for a six to bring up the 50-run partnership in just 15 deliveries. He sent the final ball into the third tier to finish with an unbeaten 53 from 14 as RCB blazed to 213/5 and CSK fans stared in disbelief.

RCb painted their home den with boundaries and walked away with 54 runs in the final two overs without losing a wicket. This was the most runs they scored in the last two overs of an IPL innings. (ANI)