Two Indian batsmen created a storm in the record books with their explosive batting.
After back-to-back centuries, the bitter experience of getting out for a duck in two consecutive matches didn’t take long for Sanju Samson to recover from. With explosive batting, he scored another century in the next match. In a similar fiery manner, Tilak Verma also grabbed the limelight with consecutive centuries. Their record-shattering performances turned the record books upside down.
On Friday, in the fourth T20I against South Africa in Johannesburg, both Indian batsmen tasted century success.
Tilak, who scored an unbeaten 107 off 56 balls in the previous match while batting at number three, was once again undismissed by the Protea bowlers. After hitting 7 sixes in the previous match, this time he sent the ball out of the park 10 times, adding 9 fours to his tally, and smashed a destructive 120 off 47 balls. Opener Sanju Samson, meanwhile, made 109 off 56 balls, hitting 9 sixes and 6 fours.
The pair added an unbeaten 210-run partnership for the second wicket in just 86 balls, setting a new record for the highest partnership for the second wicket in T20Is.
In February, Michael Leach and Sybrand Engelbrecht from the Netherlands held the previous record with a 193-run second-wicket partnership against Namibia in Kirtipur.
This was the first time India had a 200-run partnership in T20Is for any wicket. Earlier, India’s highest partnership was 190 runs for the fifth wicket between Rohit Sharma and Rinku Singh against Afghanistan in Bengaluru in January.
At Wanderers Stadium, India posted 283 runs for 1 wicket in 20 overs, the highest total in T20I cricket in South Africa, and India’s second-highest in this format.
This score is also the second-highest total between two full ICC member teams in T20Is, with India’s highest being 297 runs against Bangladesh in Hyderabad last month.
India hit 23 sixes in this match, the most by any team in a T20I innings between two full members, surpassing the previous record of 22 sixes, which was held by India (against Bangladesh in Hyderabad last month), South Africa (against West Indies in Centurion 2023), and Afghanistan (against Ireland in Dehradun 2019).
This was only the third time in T20Is that two batsmen scored centuries in a single innings, and the first such instance between two full member teams.
In 2022, Czech Republic’s Saboun Davighi and Dylan Stein scored centuries against Bulgaria. In February this year, Japan’s Lachlan Yamamoto-Lake and Kendell Kadowaki-Fleming achieved the same against China.
Tilak became only the second player from India and the fifth overall to score consecutive centuries in T20Is. The previous four were France’s Gustav Mequian, South Africa’s Riley Roussow, England’s Phil Salt, and India’s Sanju Samson.
Tilak’s 10 sixes in an innings are now tied as the most by an Indian, alongside Rohit Sharma against Sri Lanka in Indore in 2017 and Samson himself in the first match of this series.
Keeper-batsman Sanju Samson has also made history as the first player to score three centuries in a calendar year in this format.
Samson, who scored his first T20I century in the last match against Bangladesh in Hyderabad last month, followed that up with another against South Africa in Durban in the first match of this series. After getting out for ducks in the next two matches, he returned to his century-scoring form in the most recent match.
The record-breaking centuries from Tilak and Samson helped India take control of the series, sending the Proteas flying.
