Abhishek Sharma broke KL Rahul's record.
Abhishek Sharma scored a match-winning half-century as India chased down the target of 133 with ease to kick off the five-match T20I series against England with a seven-wicket win. Abhishek scored a quick 79 off 34 balls before departing in the 12th over. The left-handed batsman smashed 8 sixes and 5 boundaries in his knock. Abhishek reached the 50-run mark with a six off Jamie Overton.
He reached his half-century off just 20 balls. He went past KL Rahul with a 20-ball fifty and now holds the record for being India's second-fastest half-centurion against England.
Yuvraj Singh tops the elite list for smashing a 12-ball fifty during the 2007 T20 World Cup. The match is best remembered for Yuvraj hitting Stuart Broad for six consecutive sixes. He breached the 50-run mark off just 12 balls. KL Rahul moved to the second spot when he scored a 27-ball fifty against England in Manchester in 2018. Rahul now sits at the third spot.
India kick off series with a win
Indian bowlers' brilliance saw the Men in Blue kick off the series with a win. Arshdeep Singh provided a dream start to India and scalped 2 early wickets to push England on the back foot. Hardik Pandya, who was playing as second pacer, also scalped 2 wickets.
Varun Chakaravarthy was the star performer with the ball and he scalped the key wickets of Jos Buttler, Harry Brook and Liam Livingstone.
Buttler was the sole batsman who scored big for England and he hit 68 off 44 balls. The England captain lacked support from other batsmen. None of the other batsmen even managed to breach the 20-run mark.
India were off to a quick start and the opening pair of Abhishek and Sanju Samson added 41 runs for the first wicket. Abhishek top-scored for India and played a match-winning knock. The 2nd T20I will be played on Saturday (January 25) in Chennai.
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