Hardik Pandya delivered a breathtaking performance during the fifth and final T20I against South Africa at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Friday, etching his name into the record books. The dynamic all-rounder struck the second-fastest T20I half-century ever recorded by an Indian batter, reaching the milestone in just 16 deliveries.
Hardik Pandya smashes 2nd fastest T20I fifty for India
He brought up his fifty in spectacular fashion during the 17th over, launching a flat six over deep midwicket off the bowling of Corbin Bosch to cap off an innings that featured four boundaries and five massive sixes.
Entering the fray during the middle overs, Hardik Pandya immediately took charge of the game with an aggressive mindset. His dominance reached its peak in the 16th over when he systematically dismantled Bosch's bowling. As the South African seamer struggled to land his yorkers, Hardik used his depth in the crease to full advantage, repeatedly getting under the ball to send it soaring over both the midwicket boundary and straight down the ground. This brutal assault saw India’s score surge to 195 for 3 by the end of the 17th over, with Hardik striking at an incredible rate of nearly 340.
Hardik found an excellent partner in Tilak Varma, who played a fluent knock to bring up a half-century of his own. While Pandya ended up cracking a blistering 25-ball 63, Tilak tonked a lightning 42-ball 73 to help India post a colossal total of 231/5.
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Hardik bags historic double too
Besides his fifty, Pandya bagged another historic record. By crossing the 2000-run milestone in the 19th over of India’s innings, the 32-year-old from Baroda became the first Indian cricketer to achieve the prestigious double of scoring 2,000 runs and taking 100 wickets in T20 Internationals. Entering the fifth T20I needing 61 runs to reach the mark, Pandya’s explosive batting ensured he joined this elite global club of versatile match-winners.
In terms of pure batting aggregates, Pandya has now become the fifth Indian player to surpass the 2,000-run threshold in the shortest format of the game. He joins an illustrious list that includes current stars and legendary figures of Indian cricket. While he is the first to combine this batting tally with a century of wickets, he follows in the footsteps of teammates who have set high benchmarks for run-scoring in T20Is.
The list of India’s top T20I run-scorers is currently led by former captain Rohit Sharma, who amassed 4,231 runs across a career spanning from 2007 to 2024. Close behind him is Virat Kohli, who concluded his T20I journey in June 2024 with 4,188 runs. Aside from these two giants of the game, only Suryakumar Yadav and KL Rahul have managed to score more than 2,000 runs for India.
India's Playing XI:
Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma(w), Washington Sundar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh
South Africa's Playing XI:
Quinton de Kock(w), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram(c), Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Donovan Ferreira, George Linde, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Lungi Ngidi, Ottneil Baartman