India batter Abhishek Sharma continued his fantastic form in T20Is and played a sizzling knock of 84 against New Zealand. It was another special innings from the 25-year-old, who just can't stop hitting boundaries. He dominated the opposing bowlers from the get-go and piled on runs at a rapid pace. The Kiwis failed to stop run-flow and their bowlers saw many of their deliveries go straight back into the stands.
Abhishek scripts history with the half-century
The left-hand batter formed a strong 99-run partnership with Suryakumar Yadav and eventually brought up his half-century after facing just 22 deliveries. The fifty saw Abhishek break a stunning world record and become the player to score most T20I fifties while taking fewer than 25 deliveries. The record had been jointly held by Abhishek, Suryakumar, Phil Salt and Evin Lewis with seven half-centuries each.
Players to score the most T20I fifties while taking ffewer than 25 balls -
1. Abhishek Sharma (India) - 8 fifties
2. Suryakumar Yadav (India) - 7 fifties
3. Phil Salt (England) - 7 fifties
4. Evin Lewis (West Indies) - 7 fifties
This was also the fastest half-century in terms of deliveries scored by an Indian in a T20I against New Zealand. The record had previously been held by Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, both of whom had scored fifties in 23 balls against the Kiwis.
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Meanwhile, Abhishek didn't stop after breaking the record and continued to bat in explosive fashion. He kept on scoring boundaries for fun and toiled with the New Zealand bowlers, who failed to put on the brakes. His entertaining knock would eventually come to an end in 12th over by Ish Sodhi. The 84-run innings included five boundaries and eight towering sixes, helping India reach almost 150 runs with eight overs left.
India finish on an incredibly strong note
India finished their 20 overs on a mammoth total of 238/7. Both Suryakumar and Hardik Pandya played impactful cameos of 32 and 29 respectively before Rinku Singh helped the team finish strong with his quick-fire 44. New Zealand have certainly been pushed to the back-foot.