IPL 2026: Sarfaraz Khan smashes half-century after seven years
What's the story
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batter Sarfaraz Khan entered the record books in the Indian Premier League (IPL) by scoring a half-century in the Powerplay. His rapid innings came against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), when CSK were chasing a mammoth target of 251 runs. Sarfaraz's explosive knock helped CSK recover from an early collapse. However, the Yellow Army lost by 43 runs.
Knock
Sarfaraz's explosive knock
CSK had a poor start, losing their top three batsmen, Sanju Samson, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Ayush Mhatre for just 30 runs. But Sarfaraz took the charge and scored a half-century at a strike rate of over 200. His innings helped CSK recover from a precarious position of 30/3 to 77/3 in just 19 balls. Sarfaraz, who completed his half-century on the Powerplay's final ball, scored a 24-ball 50. His whirlwind knock had 8 fours and 2 sixes.
Career
Second IPL fifty
Sarfaraz, who made his IPL debut in 2015, recorded only his second half-century in the league. His maiden half-century came for Punjab Kings in the 2019 season. Interestingly, the opposition was CSK. The Indian batter now has 684 runs from 53 IPL games (40 innings) at an average of 23.58. He has a strike rate of over 137. Apart from PBKS and CSK, he has also played for RCB and Delhi Capitals.
Information
His T20 numbers
According to ESPNcricinfo, Sarfaraz recorded his eighth half-century in T20 cricket. He also owns a hundred. Across 106 matches (84 innings), he has racked up 1,616 runs at a strike rate of 142.12.