Shreyas Iyer slammed a 55-ball 147 against Sikkim in a Group C encounter of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament in Indore on Thursday as Mumbai won by a 154 runs.
Mumbai finished on 258/4 after winning the toss and opting to bat. Sikkim managed just 104/7 in 20 overs as Mumbai managed to bag all four points on offer.
During their mammoth batting effort, Mumbai fell short of the current world record for the highest T20 score by five runs, after being poised to go past the 263-mark currently held by Royal Challengers Bangalore and Australia. Mumbai were 213/2 after 15 overs but managed to score only 45 runs in the last five overs.
Ajinkya Rahane and Prithvi Shaw opened the batting for Mumbai and both were back in the pavilion in the powerplay with the scoreboard reading 22/2 in the third over. Iyer then joined hands with Suryakumar Yadav as the duo took the Sikkim bowling attack to the cleaners, with a 213-run partnership. Iyer was in a punishing mood as he reached his century off just 38 balls.
When he fell in the 17th over, the scoreboard read 238/4 with Iyer’s innings coming to an end after he hit 15 sixes and 7 fours. Suryakumar made a 33-ball 63. Sikkim bowler Tashi Pintso conceded 35 runs in the one over he bowled.
Iyer’s 147 is the highest T20 score by an Indian and in the process he surpassed wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, who had scored an unbeaten 128 for Delhi Daredevils in the IPL, reported PTI.
His 147 is also the 12th highest score by a batsman in the T20 cricket history.
In response, Sikkim never got going despite not losing a wicket in the powerplay overs. From there they lost three wickets for one run to be reduced to 27/3. A brief recovery followed in the form of a 40-run fourth wicket stand but the underdogs were never in with a realistic chance of challenging Mumbai. BB Sharma top-scored with 32 off 20 balls.
Shams Mulani was the pick of the bowlers for the domestic powerhouses, as he finished with stunning figures of two wickets for two runs in three overs.