The Indian Premier League is the most exciting cricket league in the world and this is largely due to the quick-fire batting performances by the batsmen on a regular basis. Apart from a few, almost all the matches are graced by incredible knocks by some of the best batsmen in the world.
It’s very rare that we get to see a batsman scoring at or below a-run-a-ball in the tournament. The fact that only 9 batsmen have taken 50 or more deliveries to score a half-century in IPL history is a testimony to that.
KL Rahul’s record of the fastest fifty off just 14 balls is a well-known record but very few know the slowest IPL fifty. This is surprising given that the tournament has seen some half-centuries which have consumed an extraordinarily high number of balls with respect to modern T20 standards. Here, we look at the 5 slowest fifties in IPL history:
#5 Murali Vijay and David Warner (50 Balls)
Murali Vijay’s half-century off 50 balls was in a winning cause for Chennai Super King. During their IPL 2013 league match against Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings), Vijay played a cautious innings of 50(50)*, anchoring the innings in a partnership with opening partner, Brendon McCullum, who scored an unbeaten 86 off 54 balls. The dynamic duo helped CSK chase the 139-run target set by the Kings XI inside 18 overs without losing a wicket.
David Warner is the latest inductee on this list. Questions were constantly raised towards him for his poor run of form in the 2021 IPL, and Warner tried to lengthen his stay at the crease against the Chennai Super Kings. This completely backfired as his slow fifty only put more pressure on the rest of the batting line-up. Despite facing as many as 55 deliveries, Warner was able to accumulate only 57 runs. After this struggling knock, Warner was relieved of the Sunrisers Hyderabad captaincy in addition to being removed from the playing XI.
#4 Matthew Hayden, Jacques Kallis and Gautam Gambhir (51 Balls)
All three half-centuries were slow but ultimately important as their sides went on to win.
Matthew Hayden helped the Chennai Super Kings chase 148 runs against the Mumbai Indians during the 2009 season. After the dismissal of his opening partner, Parthiv Patel, in the first over, Hayden played a cautious knock of 60(57)* to ensure the victory for his team.
In the same season, Jacques Kallis also played a similar kind of innings to win the game for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals). Chasing 135, Kallis also lost his opening partner, Robin Uthappa, in the first over. Kallis then scored a fifty off 51 balls and remained unbeaten on 58 off 56 balls to cross the finish line for RCB.
During the next season in 2010, Gautam Gambhir also played a slow but steady knock under pressure while batting in the middle order for the Daredevils. Despite being set a target of a mere 113 by CSK, DD lost their first three wickets inside the first two overs. Gambhir walked in at number four and played a sensible knock of 57(56)* to win the match for DD.
#3 Brendon McCullum and Robin Uthappa (52 Balls)
Brendon McCullum scoring a fifty off 52 balls might be difficult to believe but it happened during the 2010 season in the IPL. Mumbai Indians set a target of 134 for Kolkata Knight Riders in 20 overs. The KKR top-order easily chased down the target, losing only one wicket. Sourav Ganguly and David Hussey scored 42 and 20* respectively, but the star of the show was Brendon McCullum, who played an uncharacteristic knock of 57* from 56 deliveries.
During the 2012 season, Robin Uthappa scored a half-century off 52 balls after coming in a precarious position for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Robbie came out to bat at number 4 when the scoreboard read 1/2. He batted until the end of the innings, scoring an unbeaten 60 off 58 balls. Despite his efforts, Robin could only take RCB’s total to 146. Delhi Daredevils’ batting lineup chased down the target of 147 set by RCB with 4 overs to spare.
#2 Parthiv Patel (53 Balls)
Parthiv Patel’s sluggish half-century was scored during the league match between Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab in 2010. Opening the batting for CSK, Parthiv struck 4 fours and 2 sixes in a subdued knock. His strike rate read a mere 98 when he was dismissed in the 18th over, after scoring 57 off 58 deliveries. CSK went on to score 136/7 in their allotted 20 overs. KXIP finished on the same total to tie the match and take it into the Super Over. KXIP then went on to win, with Parthiv facing plenty of backlash for his excessively slow knock.
#1 JP Duminy (55 Balls)
JP Duminy’s super slow knock for Mumbai Indians during the 2009 season cost his side an easy game against Kings XI Punjab. Chasing a small total of 120, Duminy scored 59 off 63 balls for MI as they could only score 116/7 in 20 overs and bottled what looked like a certain victory. Duminy also registered another unwanted record during this knock as his strike rate of 93.65 is the slowest strike rate for a 50+ score in IPL.
