Abhishek Sharma breaks Rohit Sharma's world record in first T20I against New Zealand

India beat New Zealand by four wickets in the first of the five-match T20I series against New Zealand. They were asked to chase 226 runs in the middle, which needed a strong start from openers Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson and they did, stitching a 93-run partnership in the middle. The keeper-batter went berserk in the middle, completing his half-century in the powerplay itself, while Abhishek made 29 runs off 12 balls.

During his stay in the middle, the southpaw smacked three maximums and courtesy of which he broke Rohit Sharma’s record for most sixes in the powerplay in T20I cricket. Abhishek holds the record now with 99 maximums to his name in the first six



overs, while Rohit had 98. Former New Zealand international Martin Guptill stands third with 97 sixes. 

Meanwhile, after Abhishek and Samson departed, things got complicated for a while, before Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel put up a 45-run stand. That brought India back into the contest, which was slipping away from their hands. However, they still needed to put up something spectacular to beat New Zealand at home. 

That spectacular knock eventually came from Naman Dhir, who played his first game away from home. The all-rounder stole the show with his unbeaten 42-run blitzkrieg off 15 balls as India won the game with only two balls remaining.