Shreyas Iyer decimates Rishabh Pant’s Twenty20 record in Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament

Shreyas Iyer broke records galore in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Twenty20 tournament on Thursday. In the game between Mumbai and Sikkim, Iyer was at his destructive best as he blasted 147 off 55 balls, with the knock including seven fours and 15 sixes. His efforts helped Mumbai reach 258/4 and Sikkim stood no chance as they were restricted to 104/7, which was 43 runs less than Iyer’s solo effort. The performance by the Mumbai batsman resulted in plenty of records being broken. The right-hander’s individual brilliance was the best knock by an Indian batsman in Twenty20s, breaking Rishabh Pant’s previous record of 128* which he smashed for Delhi Daredevils against Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2018.

Pant’s knock included 15 fours and seven sixes against a potent Sunrisers Hyderabad bowling attack that included Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shakib Al Hasan, Rashid Khan and Siddarth Kaul. In Iyer’s case, he found the Sikkim bowling easy pickings, but it does not diminish the brilliance. Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav shared a 213-run stand as Mumbai tore the Sikkim bowling to shreds. In over bowled by medium pacer Tashi Balla, he conceded 35 runs and Mumbai ended with the seventh-highest score in Twenty20s. Royal Challengers Bangalore’s 263/5 against Sahara Pune Warriors in IPL 2013 remains the highest.

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Iyer’s tally of 15 sixes is the joint-fourth highest by a player in a Twenty20 innings. He is level with Chris Gayle, who smashed 15 sixes for Somerset against Kent in the Natwest T20 blast in 2015. The West Indies Universe Boss dominates the charts in the format, smashing 18 and 17 sixes respectively in two separate Twenty20 leagues. His 18 sixes for the Rangpur Riders against the Dhaka Dynamites came in the 2017 edition of the Bangladesh Premier League while his 17 sixes came for RCB against Pune in the 2013 match in which he smashed 175, the highest individual score in Twenty20 history.

However, Iyer’s tally of 15 sixes is the most by an Indian in Twenty20s, breaking the record of 11 which was set by Murali Vijay for Chennai Super Kings against Rajasthan Royals in the 2010 Indian Premier League encounter in Chepauk. In that match, Vijay scored 127 as CSK won a high-scoring match by 23 runs.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Shreyas Iyer overtook Rishabh Pant's record of highest individual score by an Indian in T20s.
• Shreyas Iyer hit 15 sixes, which is the most for an Indian in Twenty20s.
• Shreyas Iyer helped Mumbai reach the seventh-highest score in Twenty20s.