RANCHI: It was a record-breaking day at the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the country’s top T20 competition, as Railways’ batter Ashutosh Sharma smashed the fastest half-century in T20 cricket by an Indian.
During the SMAT match between Railways and Arunachal Pradesh, Ashutosh smashed a half-century in just 11 balls, smashing one boundary and eight sixes. He overtook legendary all-rounder Yuvraj Singh’s record of 12-ball fifty against England in the ICC T20 World Cup 2007.
With the help of a century by wicketkeeper-batter Upendra Yadav (103 in 51 balls with six fours and nine sixes) and Ashutosh’s knock, Railways posted 246/5 in their 20 overs. In turn, AP was knocked down for just 119 runs in 18.1 overs, with Susheel Kumar (4/17) shining with the ball.
The record for the fastest fifty in T20 cricket as whole is held by Nepal’s all-rounder Dipendra Singh Airee, who reached his fifty in just nine balls against Mongolia in the recently concluded Asian Games at Hangzhou back in September. He ended with 52* in just 10 balls, with a four and eight sixes.
Also, in another match between Punjab and Andhra Pradesh, Punjab managed a total of 275/6 in their 20 overs, with Abhishek Sharma (112 in 51 balls with nine fours and nine sixes) and Anmolpreet Singh (87 in 26 balls with six fours and nine sixes) leading the side’s batting effort. In turn, Andhra Pradesh was restricted to 170/7 in 20 overs, despite a century from Ricky Bhui (104* in 52 balls, with six fours and nine sixes).
This total of 275/6 is the highest total by an Indian team in T20 cricket. It is also the third-highest total in T20 cricket.
The highest total in T20 cricket is by Nepal (314/3) against Mongolia in the Asian Games at Hangzhou.
Also, the total of 22 sixes hit during the innings by Punjab is the highest number of sixes by an Indian team in a T20 cricket match. The highest number of sixes during T20 innings is by Nepal (26 sixes) against Mongolia at the Asian Games in Hangzhou.
In the match between Jammu and Kashmir and Hyderabad, Tilak Varma (58 in 43 balls, three fours and three sixes) helped his side cross the 160-run target set by J-K.
An all-round show by Riyan Parag (61 in 34 balls with four boundaries and five sixes and 2/25) helped Assam defend 201 against Bihar in a narrowly contested match.
Also, Indian Premier League (IPL) youngster Suyash Sharma took 5/13 against Madhya Pradesh to reduce them to 115/9 which Delhi chased down with Ayush Badoni (44 in 44 balls, with three fours and a six) leading the run-chase.
In the match between Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, Sai Sudharsan (46), Vijay Shankar (42) shined for Tamil Nadu with the bat, taking them to a match-winning 146/6 with Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3/31) being the leading wicket-taker for UP. Uttar Pradesh failed to chase it down, falling short by eight runs despite Sameer Rizvi (75* in 46 balls with six fours and five sixes). (ANI)