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Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen backed young South African speedster Kwena Maphaka after his debut in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 turned out to be a nightmare.
Five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians announced the youngster as a replacement for Sri Lanka pacer Dilshan Madushanka. He made his debut against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Wednesday, conceded 66 runs, which was the most by any bowler across both teams, went wicketless in his four-over spell and ended up with the worst figure by a bowler in his IPL debut. Pietersen took to X and backed Maphaka, despite toiling hard in his debut game and wrote, "I hope Kwena Maphaka wakes up this morning extremely proud of what he achieved last night. There are many seasoned international campaigners that try their level best to get picked up in an @IPL auction and just at the age of 17, yes 17, he made is debut as a foreign player. Forget your figures and love what you achieved. You go, buddy." https://x.com/KP24/status/1773263858079281608?s=20 Maphaka holds the record for the joint-third worst bowling figure in IPL history, with SRH's Basil Thampi's 0/70 against RCB back in 2018 still at the top of the charts. The 17-year-old announced himself to the world by ending the ICC Under-19 World Cup as the leading wicket-taker with 21 wickets. Following his sensational performances, he was also named the Player of the Tournament. SRH were put to bat, and Abhishek Sharma (63), Travis Head (62), Heinrich Klaasen (80*) and Aiden Markram (42*) powered SRH to the highest score by a team in the history of the IPL: 277/3. In reply, MI fought hard while chasing the herculean total, the top four batters scored at a strike rate of 180-plus. However, their valiant effort wasn't enough to propel them across the finish line. MI ended up with a 31-run defeat and suffered their second consecutive defeat in IPL 2024. (ANI)
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