A record-laden effort from Rohit Sharma provided an early Diwali gift for India, as the captain’s sparkling century powered the hosts to a series-clinching victory over West Indies in the second T20I at Lucknow on Tuesday, 6 November.
Sharma’s resplendent unbeaten 111 – off just 61 balls – saw him become the first man to cross triple figures four times in T20 internationals. It also allowed ‘Hitman’ to further his own record for most hundreds in all T20 cricket among Indian batsmen.
Standing in for the rested Virat Kohli for the three-match contest, Sharma overtook his regular skipper as India’s highest run-getter in the shortest format. Only Martin Guptill now stands ahead of him as far as T20I runs are concerned – and none of the top-five have scored their runs faster than Sharma.
The evening had begun sedately for Sharma and his partner Shikhar Dhawan, as Windies newcomer Oshane Thomas, along with Keemo Paul, kept India down to 11/0 in the first 3 overs. But once they got their eyes in, there was no stopping India’s opening duo – who eventually notched up the country’s highest partnership in T20Is against the Windies.
That wasn’t all – early on in their 123-run association, Sharma and Dhawan also leapfrogged Australians David Warner and Shane Watson as the most prolific partnership in the brief history of T20I cricket.
In the sea of record-breaking hitting, it was almost forgotten that Sharma had played out a maiden over to begin proceedings at Lucknow. The newly-constructed stadium, hosting its first men’s international, was not supposed to provide a run-fest if the curator’s words were to be believed – but when the ‘Hitman’ gets going, conditions are known to go for a toss. That’s exactly what happened, and the shower of sixes in the second half of the Indian innings allowed Sharma to break a mark of his own from just last year.
India do still have four T20Is left to play in the calendar year: a now dead-rubber against the Windies, followed by three matches in Australia in December – wonder what that record could burgeon into!
The number-fest in India’s series-winning victory, though, wasn’t limited solely to the captain. India’s win margin of 71 runs was their biggest against the West Indians in T20Is.
(With statistical inputs from Arun Gopalakrishnan)
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