Suryakumar Yadav is really enjoying himself at the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 and he provided further evidence of the same with his third half-century of the tournament, this time at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Sunday, November 6.
With their spot in the semifinals already sealed, India faced off against Zimbabwe with the sole aim of knocking rivals Pakistan off top spot in Group 2 with victory at MCG.
India got off to a decent start as KL Rahul smashed a 34-ball half-century allowing Suryakumar to walk in without much pressure as the score read 87/2 in the 12th over. However, the innings really took off when Suryakumar teamed up with Hardik Pandya to really tear into the Chevrons.
With India only reaching 107/4 after 15 overs, Suryakumar smashed back-to-back fours against Blessing Muzarabani in the 16th over. The first was an audacious scoop over the fine leg before showing his class and driving down the ground to long-off. Surya even handed over to Hardik who chipped in with a couple of boundaries of his own in the over.
Suryakumar & Hardik smash 4 fours against Muzarabani
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Surya though was only getting started and he followed that up with a sliced four against Richard Ngarava on the 1st ball of the 17th over. He then pulled out an even more audacious shot to leave the fans and commentators gushing.
Suryakumar reached outside off and scooped a wide full toss high over fine leg for six.
Suryakumar vs Ngarava (17th Over)
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Suryakumar continued his vintage display with another exquisite shot in the 18th over. This time pulling off a mesmerizing lofted drive to send the full delivery from Tendai Chatara sailing over deep extra cover for six.
Suryakumar Yadav reaches 1000 T20I runs in 2022
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That shot saw Suryakumar become the first Indian and only the second batter ever to reach 1000 T20I runs in a calendar year. The previous player to reach that landmark was Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan who scored 1326 runs in 2021.
Milestone 🚨 - 1000 T20I runs and counting for @surya_14kumar 👏👏
He becomes the first Indian batter to reach this milestone in 2022.Live - https://t.co/lWOa4COtk9 #INDvZIM #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/c9fW6jg3j4— BCCI (@BCCI) November 6, 2022
Suryakumar saved the best for last as he once again pulled out the paddle-sweep to send an Ngarava wide full toss flying over square leg for six. He then brought up his fifty off just 23 balls. It was the fourth fastest fifty at the T20 World Cup for India.
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Suryakumar finished unbeaten with 61 runs from just 25 balls. He smashed a total of 6 fours and 4 sixes during his innings and finished with an astonishing strike rate of 244.00.
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