Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], April 3 : Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batter Ayush Mhatre made history, becoming the youngest player to score an Indian Premier League (IPL) half-century at the iconic Chepauk stadium on Friday.
The 18-year-old Indian U19 World Cup-winning captain achieved this milestone during his side's match against Punjab Kings (PBKS) at Chepauk, scoring 73 in 43 balls, with six fours and five sixes at a strike rate of 169.77
At 18 years and 261 days of age, Mhatre is the youngest to score an IPL fifty at Chepauk.
Also, he has joined the elite list of Vaibhav Suryavanshi of Rajasthan Royals (three) and Prithvi Shaw of Delhi Capitals (DC) for most fifty-plus scores in IPL career before turning 19.
His 73 is also the third-highest individual score in IPL before turning 19, with the second-highest score also made by him, a scintillating 94 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) last season. The best score by a batter in IPL before turning 19 is owned by Vaibhav Suryavanshi (101 against the Gujarat Titans at the age of 14 last season).
Since his debut season last year, Mhatre has scored 313 runs in nine innings for CSK at an average of 34.77 and a strike rate of over 183, with two fifties and a best score of 94.
Mhatre, coming in as an injury replacement for the skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad, scored 240 runs in seven innings last season at an average of 34.28 and a strike rate of almost 189, with a fifty.
PBKS won the toss and opted to bowl first against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in both teams' second match of the season.
Knocks from Mhatre (73 in 43 balls, with six fours and five sixes), Shivam Dube (45* in 28 balls, with five fours and a six) and Sarfaraz Khan (32 in 12 balls, with six fours and a six) helped CSK reach 209/5 in 20 overs, with Vijaykumar Vyshak (2/38) being the pick of PBKS bowlers. Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett and Yuzi Chahal also took a wicket each.
Punjab Kings playing XI: Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer (captain), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal.
Punjab Kings Impact subs: Suryansh Shedge, Priyansh Arya, Vishnu Vinod, Pravin Dubey, Hemant Brar
Chennai Super Kings playing XI: Sanju Samson (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain), Ayush Mhatre, Sarfaraz Khan, Shivam Dube, Kartik Sharma, Prashant Veer, Noor Ahmed, Matt Henry, Anshul Kamboj, Khaleel Ahmed.
Chennai Super Kings Impact subs: Jamie Overton, Rahul Chahar, Matthew Short, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Gurjapneet Singh.