Dynamic batter Suryakumar Yadav joined an exclusive list of players with 100 sixes in men`s T20I cricket as India stayed alive in their ongoing series against the West Indies with an emphatic seven-wicket victory over the Caribbean side in Guyana on Tuesday.
Suryakumar smashed four sixes during a brilliant knock of 83 in the third-match of the T20I series against the West Indies and in the process became just the third men`s player from India behind star duo Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to have hit a century of sixes in the shortest format of the game.
No one in the world has hit more sixes than Rohit’s 182, with Kohli (117) and Suryakumar (101) chasing their experienced captain and among a group of 14 men`s players in international cricket to have gone past the magical three figure milestone.
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Suryakumar was at his magnificent best against the West Indies as he combined well with young gun Tilak Varma (49*) to ensure India successfully chased down the West Indies’ modest score of 159/5 for the loss of just three wickets and with more than two overs remaining.
India’s victory means the five-match series is now well poised with the West Indies leading 2-1 and the remaining two games scheduled to take place in Florida on Saturday and Sunday.
Spin duo Kuldeep Yadav (3/28) and Axar Patel (1/24) closed out the West Indies, winning a throw and scoring a hit before slightly reducing the host team’s record.
Suryakumar did not deter the early defeats of openers Shubman Gill (6) and Yashavi Jaishwar (1) and terrified opposing bowlers with his recently famous clean shot.
As Suryakumar retired in heat 13 with a total of 64 of his 83 runs crossing the border, India were heading home in the lead with captain Hardik Pandya (20*) and Varma watching. I got to
Varma will miss a half-century in his third cap, but Suryakumar is rightly impressed with the maturity of his left-hander and believes the 20-year-old has a bright future ahead of him.
“I feel like he’s showing amazing maturity for his age,” Suryakumar said of Varma after the match.
“He knows his game very well, he knows very well what he wants to do when he gets on the field.
“This is the most important thing you need to do when you play. Come to the Indian dressing room and play at this level.”
