India opener Abhishek Sharma was in blitzkrieg mode on Wednesday at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata as he smashed a whirlwind knock of 79 runs off just 34 balls to help the hosts beat England by eight wickets in the opening game of the five-match series. While the knock saw him miss out on a stellar Rohit Sharma record, he joined his mentor Yuvraj Singh in an elite list.
Abhishek played second fiddle at the start of the innings as fellow opener Sanju Samson took the aggressive route against the England fast bowler. But after the successive dismissals of Samson, for 26 off 20, and captain Suryakumar Yadav for a duck, Abhishek took off in the final over of powerplay, smashing back-to-back sixes against Mark Wood.
The youngster laced eight sixes and four boundaries in his blazing knock, while stitching an 84-run stand with India No. 3 Tilak Verma as India chased down the target of 132 runs in just 12.5 overs.
En route, Abhishek joined Yuvraj in the list of India batters to get the fastest fifty against England in T20Is. The veteran India all-rounder had smashed a half-century in just 12 balls in that famous 2007 World T20 game in Durban, where he scored 6 sixes in an over against Stuart Broad. The youngster reached the mark on Wednesday in 20 balls.
In the knock, 68 runs came in boundaries, implying 86.07 per cent of his total runs. Only former India T20I skipper Rohit had a higher share of boundaries in a knock of at least 75 runs – 91.53 per cent (108/118) against Sri Lanka in Indore in 2017.
-Spinners set up India’s win
Head coach Gautam Gambhir’s decision to play three spinners in Kolkata was met with few criticisms, especially with India choosing to delay Mohammed Shami’s international return, but the decision was vindicated after perfect execution of plans by his spin troika who snared 5 for 67 in 12 overs – Ravi Bishnoi (0/23 in 4 overs), Axar Patel (2/22 in 4 overs), and Varun Chakravarthy – bowled between them. The mystery spinner was the pick of the bowler with his three-fer as he ably supported left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh’s record-breaking spell of 2/17 as England were folded for just 132 runs after captain Jos Buttler’s knock of 68.
News / Cricket News / Abhishek Sharma’s special Yuvraj Singh connection in whirlwind 79; misses out on Rohit Sharma’s stellar feat
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