Team India’s batting sensation Abhishek Sharma punished New Zealand bowlers as he raced to the second-fastest fifty from the country in the third T20I at the Baraspara Stadium in Guwahati on Sunday, January 25. The southpaw mustered a six and reached the landmark in only 14 deliveries, now sitting behind his mentor, Yuvraj Singh.
The moment came in the sixth over of the innings bowled by Jacob Duffy, as the 25-year-old simply helped a short-pitched delivery to the fine-leg region for a maximum. The 14-ball half-century is next to Yuvraj, who did so in 12 balls, including six sixes in an over, against England in the T20 World Cup 2007.
Here’s the video of Abhishek reaching his half-century in 14 balls:
It was also the star batter’s second fifty of the series, having clobbered a 34-ball 85 in the series-opener in Nagpur. He was dismissed for a first-ball duck in the second T20I in Nagpur by Duffy but stepped down to the same bowler on the first ball for a maximum on Sunday.
Abhishek Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav stitch a 102-run stand to give Team India an unassailable series lead
Abhishek, who stayed ubeaten on 68 off 20 balls, shared an unbroken 102-run partnership with Suryakumar Yadav, who was not out on 57. The Indian captain seems to have well and truly come into form as he followed up his 37-ball 82 with an unbeaten 57. The Men in Blue have now taken an unassailable 3-0 series lead, with two matches left. With a modest 154 set for the home side to win, they needed only 10 overs to chase it down with eight wickets to spare.
India were dealt an early blow as Matt Henry dismissed Sanju Samson for a first-ball duck, but the home side shut the doors on New Zealand, thanks to a blazing 53-run stand between Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan (13-ball 28). The Black Caps, who were asked to bat first, failed to gather any momentum as none of their batters scored a half-century.
With two more games to go before the T20 World Cup, India look red-hot favorites to defend their title.
Edited by Parag Jain
