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Suryakumar Yadav became the second-quickest batter to 100 T20I sixes during his match-winning 44-ball 83 against West Indies in the third T20I. Suryakumar achieved the massive feat in his 49th innings in the format on the international stage. He is only behind West Indies’ Evin Lewis who had completed a century of sixes in T20Is from 42 innings.
Suryakumar is only the third Indian batter to hit 100 T20I sixes. Rohit Sharma is the leading six-hitter in T20Is with 182 sixes to his name from 140 innings. Virat Kohli is next on the list with 117 sixes from 107 innings.
Suryakumar walked in to bat in the first over after debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal got out for a single-digit score. He hit his first six of the innings in the first over bowled by Obed McCoy. When McCoy came back into the attack in the powerplay overs, he hit him for another six.
He breached the 100-sixes mark with a maximum off Romario Shepherd. He did it in his typical fashion by getting under the ball and hitting it over the short fine leg boundary. India’s unorthodox batter hit one more six in his innings before missing out on a chance to hit his fourth T20I century. He scored 83 runs from 44 balls including 10 fours and four sixes.
Suryakumar’s 83-run knock helped India beat West Indies by seven wickets with 13 balls to spare at Providence Stadium, Guyana. It also helped India remain alive in the five-match T20I series after two consecutive losses.
It was really important to be myself when I went in to bat in the powerplay, that's what the team management also wanted. I have practised these (ramps and scoops) strokes a lot and I love doing that. We (himself and Tilak) have batted together for a long time, we both understand how each other bats and the way he batted, it gave me a lot of confidence. It was a great innings from him (Tilak) at the other end,” the 32-year-old who made his T20I debut in 2021 said in the post-match presentation.
“It was running on the back of my mind (that India had never lost three T20Is in a row) but at the same time we spoke in the team meeting, our captain said someone needs to put their hand up and win the match, glad I was able to do that,” he added.
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