(ESPNCRICINFO) – Abhishek Sharma smashed a host of records in his 34-ball 108 to lead India’s whitewash of Afghanistan in the three-T20I series in Delhi. At 30 balls, this was the fastest T20I hundred against a full-member team and the third-quickest overall. With 11 delightful sixes and nine fours, Abhishek scored a century in boundaries alone, ending up with the highest percentage of runs scored in boundaries in a T20I innings. Nobody now has as many hundreds as Abhishek has in 30 balls or fewer and 40 balls or fewer.
Abhishek’s sensational innings gave India enough insurance against the reverse-swing-induced slowdown in the second half of the innings. They managed to muster just 221 after the opening pair took 100 off the first six overs, India’s record powerplay score. Sanju Samson, who was happy to watch from the other end while Abhishek dazzled, ended up with a second successive half-century.
Having languished in the 150s in the first two matches batting first, Afghanistan managed just 94 this time, the wheels coming off under the pressure of the high asking rate and the quality of India’s bowling.
Abhishek attacks
One sighter is all it took before Abhishek hurtled off the mark with an extra-cover drive in the air off a half volley from Fazalhaq Farooqi. The innings had all the hallmarks of an Abhishek classic: a high grip giving him a seemingly long wingspan and languid bat swing, sweet hitting either side of the wicket off seam, and back-foot sixes down the ground off spin. The first time he charged a seamer was at the end of the second over, lofting Azmatullah Omarzai over cover for his second six. Farooqi overpitched again in the third over and paid the price.
The worst fate, though, was reserved for off-spinner Mohammad Nabi, introduced in the fifth over. Samson had already taken him down the ground for two sixes off the back foot, and Abhishek matched him two of his own, bringing up his fifty in 16 balls.
For a change, Rashid Khan bowled inside the powerplay, but it made little difference to Abhishek, who hit two fours before performing a rare act for the third match in a row: charge at Rashid and hit him for a six down the ground. This was Abhishek’s seventh six and brought up India’s hundred.
Under immense pressure, slight errors of length continued after the powerplay, and Abhishek kept punishing them. After bringing up his hundred in the ninth over – only once has it happened quicker in internationals – he sat down in a meditation pose, a nod to his mentor Yuvraj Singh, who holds the record for the fastest T20I fifty for India.
