Team India suffered a 21-run defeat in the first T20 match of the three-match series against New Zealand on Friday. The side was restricted to 155/9 in the chase of 177 as it suffered a top-order collapse, with Ishan Kishan (4), Rahul Tripathi (0), and Shubman Gill (7) coming in quick succession. Suryakumar Yadav (47) and Washington Sundar (50) fired explosive innings to revive the Indian innings but ultimately failed to seal a win for the hosts in Ranchi.
However, even though the result did not go in India’s favor in the match, Suryakumar made a big jump in the run-scorers’ list by scoring 47 off 34 balls in the first T20I. The India batsman, who is currently ranked world No. 1 in the shortest format of the game, went past former India star Suresh Raina and legendary former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni to become the fifth-highest run-scorer in T20Is.
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Suryakumar has 1,625 runs in 44 innings at a strike rate of 178.76; He has three centuries and 13 half-centuries to his name in the format so far. Meanwhile, Dhoni ended his T20I career with 1,617 runs in 98 matches, while Raina scored 1,605 runs in 78 matches.
Take a look at India’s top run-getters across formats:
- Virat Kohli – 4,008
- Rohit Sharma – 3,853
- KL Rahul – 2,265
- Shikhar Dhawan – 1,759
- Suryakumar Yadav – 1,625
Earlier, Suryakumar and Hardik Pandya (21) had raised hopes of a successful chase when their little partnership got going, but all hopes were dashed after the duo departed in quick succession during the first T20I.
“Till the time me and Surya were batting, we thought we would pull it off. In the end, we gave away 25 runs more than the par, Pandya had said in the post-match presentation.
Washington Sundar shone for India as he took two wickets for 22 runs apart from his 28-ball 50.
“The way Washington bowled, batted and fielded, it was more like Washington against New Zealand than India against New Zealand. If he and Akshar can continue as they are, it will help Indian cricket a lot.
