Yashasvi Jaiswal started the fifth T20I between India and Zimbabwe with a bang at Harare Sports Club on Sunday, July 15. The young Indian opener smashes two sixes off the first two balls of the game to script a major record in T20Is.
The 22-year-old left-handed batter opened an innings for India and faced Zimbabwe skipper Sikandar Raza in the first over. Jaiswal declared his intentions on the very first ball with a big six over the deep midwicket. Umpires signalled for a no-ball for overstepping and that urged Jaiswal to smash the next free delivery over the bowler's head for another six.
India's score was 13/0 after the first ball of the game as Yashasvi Jaiswal set a new milestone of scoring the most runs on the first legal delivery of the match in international cricket. No cricketer before had scored more than ten runs on the first ball of the T20 game.
However, Sikandar Raza had a last laugh as he bowled out Jaiswal on the fourth delivery of the same over. Jaiswal scored 12 runs off five balls as India struggled for a start in the final T20 match of their Zimbabwe tour.
The Men in Blues also lost their skipper Shubman Gill and youngster Abhishek Sharma in powerplay overs. Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag added 65 runs for the fourth wicket to stage India's comeback with the former scoring a brilliant fifty. The 2024 T20 World Cup winner Shivam Dube smashed 26 runs off 12 balls as India managed to post a challenging total of 167/6 in 20 overs after being forced to bat first.
Jaiswal has been in great form across formats with the highest 953 runs in 16 international innings in 2024. The youngster scored 36 off 27 and 93* off 53 balls in his first two innings against Zimbabwe and is expected to be part of the India squad for the upcoming Sri Lanka tour starting on July 27.
