Abhishek Sharma holds another world record in T20I cricket | PC- AFP
When Abhishek Sharma gets on song, batting looks pretty easy to watch. The star Indian opener is playing his maiden international match in New Zealand, and he has bagged another world record.
Abhishek and Sanju Samson are looking to tee off the Kiwi bowling attack in the handsome chase of 222 runs at Hagley Oval, Christchurch, to take an early lead in the five-match T20I series.
Abhishek Sharma breaks world record of most first-ball sixes
Although Sanju Samon took the strike for the first delivery of the chase, the first ball that Abhishek Sharma faced was the last one of Matt Henry's opening over.
The swashbuckling opener said a nice gentle 'hello' with an inside-out shot over deep extra cover for a maximum.
It was Abhishek's seventh first-ball maximum in T20I cricket. With that, he overtook Afghanistan's Samiullah Shinwari, who had smashed six first-ball sixes.
Former Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav is the third on the list with five maximums. Paul Stirling, Colin Munro, and Mohammad Naveed are placed fourth with four sixes.
Most sixes hit off the first ball faced in T20Is
- 7 - Abhishek Sharma (India)*
- 6 - Samiullah Shinwari (Afghanistan)
- 5 - Suryakumar Yadav (India)
- 4 - Paul Stirling (Ireland), Colin Munro (New Zealand), Mohammad Naveed (UAE)
(where ball-by-ball data is available)
The 26-year-old opener didn't stop there as he went bang, bang against the hosts in the powerplay overs, stitching another half-century partnership with Sanju Samson.
The duo shared their eighth fifty-plus stand in T20I cricket, which is the joint-third most for India.
Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma smoothen road to achieve record chase
Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma went berserk against New Zealand in the first T20I at Christchurch. They batted together for just 35 balls to share an electrifying 93, with the senior pro taking the lead.
They took the charge against all Blackcaps bowlers, especially going all guns blazing against the comeback man Adam Milne, who went for 29 in an over.
Samson slammed his 11th T20I half-century, but Michael Bracewell showed Abhishek the exit doors two balls before the end of the powerplay. Nevertheless, the southpaw fired a fiery 29 off 12 balls in the middle.
After six overs, India’s scorecard reads 94/1 in the chase of 226 runs, their third-highest total after the powerplay. If the Men in Blue reach the target, it will be the highest-ever T20 score chased down at Hagley Oval.
