On Tuesday, Abhishek Sharma became the Indian batsman with the most T20 hundreds, surpassing Virat Kohli. During the third Twenty20 International against New Zealand in Wellington, the explosive left-hander reached this milestone by scoring 113 off 38 balls with a strike rate of 297.37, including nine fours and eleven sixes. Abhishek is now the Indian with the most T20 hundreds after surpassing Virat’s record of 10 T20 hundreds with 11. He is the third-highest centurion in T20 cricket, only surpassed by West Indies legend Chris Gayle (22) and Pakistani batsman Babar Azam (13).
Abhishek is now ranked third on the all-time list for all T20 cricket formats with 11 T20 hundreds. He is only surpassed worldwide by West Indies batsman Chris Gayle, who has 22 T20 hundreds, and Babar Azam of Pakistan, who has 13. Abhishek’s century in Wellington was his fourth in T20 Internationals particularly, making him joint second in T20I history. He has four T20I hundreds with England’s Phil Salt, Suryakumar Yadav, and Rohit Sharma. With five T20I hundreds, Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell is the clear leader of that list.
Abhishek has amassed 2,240 runs at an average of 33.43 and a strike rate of 196.83 in 70 Twenty20 Internationals and 69 innings, including four hundreds and fourteen fifties. 135 is his highest score. Abhishek has amassed 1,125 runs at an average of 31.25 and a strike rate of 206.42 in 37 Twenty20 Internationals this year, with two hundreds, eight fifties, and a top score of 113. Suryakumar’s record of 1,164 T20I runs in a calendar year by an Indian is 40 runs short of being surpassed by him.
After winning the toss, India decided to bowl first. Finn Allen and Daryl Mitchell’s second-wicket partnership of 86 kept the home team steady after New Zealand opener Tim Seifert was out for just 2. Glenn Phillips made just 17 off 14 deliveries after back-to-back fifties in the series, while Allen scored 40 off 25 balls with five fours before leaving.
Bevon Jacobs added an undefeated 39 off 23 balls with four boundaries and a six, while Mitchell stayed undefeated on 89 off 52 balls with five fours and five sixes. After 20 overs, New Zealand scored 198 for 3. Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Arshdeep Singh all took one wicket. India reached 133 in just seven overs thanks to an aggressive opening partnership between Abhishek and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. Sooryavanshi struck four boundaries and four sixes in his 45 off 19 balls. In the end, the tourists took six wickets and easily won in 13.2 overs.
