Slow half centuries generally come in T20 cricket when a batting collapse occurs. It can happen when a team is batting first on a difficult or sluggish surface. The other likelihood is when the team is chasing a smallish total and the batsman wants to make sure that he bats sensibly without losing his wicket.
55 - Duminy, MI v KXIP, 2009 In a match between Mumbai Indians and Kings 11 Punjab in IPL 2009, JP Duminy scored the slowest half century in IPL history. Kings 11 Punjab batted first and only managed 119 from the 20 overs.
It was a difficult pitch at the Kingsmead in Durban with the team finding it tough to get hold of Zaheer Khan and Lasith Malinga.
Mumbai Indians too did not get off to a great start with Sachin Tendulkar getting dismissed for just one. The middle order collapsed but JP Duminy stood firm, reaching his half-century off 55 deliveries. He was ultimately dismissed on 59 off 63 balls as Mumbai Indians fell tantalizingly short of the target by just three runs.
53 - Parthiv Patel, CSK v KXIP, 2010 Another slow half century in the IPL came from the blade of Parthiv Patel who is anyway notorious for a slow strike rate in T20 cricket. Kings 11 Punjab faced Chennai Super Kings in a match in IPL 2010 at the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai which is infamous for its slow and low surfaces.
Punjab batted first and scored 136 from their 20 overs. Chennai then lost opener Murali Vijay for a duck but Parthiv Patel and Matthew Hayden added 65 for the opening partnership. However, after that, wickets kept falling in short intervals.
Patel made 57 off 58 deliveries, reaching his half century from 53 balls. The best that Chennai could do was to tie the match. Unfortunately for them, Punjab won the game in the super over.
52 - Uthappa, PWI v DD, 2012 It was a blunder from Pune Warriors India who batted out their entire 20 overs and scored only 146 despite losing just two wickets. Manish Pandey made an unbeaten 88 off 56 deliveries, Robin Uthappa took 52 deliveries to score his half century and then made 65 off 58 deliveries.
As a result, Warriors could only manage 146 and Delhi Daredevils won the match comfortably by 8 wickets, courtesy of some Sehwag magic.
