Ruturaj Gaikwad put on a stellar show during the India vs Australia third T20I on Tuesday, November 28 at Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati as he became the first Indian to score a T20I hundred vs Australia. The 26-year-old played a scintillating innings of unbeaten 123* off 57 balls smashing 13 fours and seven sixes in his innings.
The Pune-born batter played cautiously in the powerplay as India lost Yashasvi Jaiswal (6 off 6) and Ishan Kishan (0 off 5) cheaply. After the two early blows, he got involved in a massive 57-run stand off 47 balls for the third wicket with captain Suryakumar Yadav to stabilize the innings.
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After the first ten overs, Gaikwad was batting on 21 (21) and slowly building on his innings. However, Suryakumar Yadav’s (39 off 29) dismissal in the 11th over meant that he had to take the onus upon himself to get the scoreboard moving.
The right-handed batter happily accepted the challenge and quickly got a move on as he completed his half-century off 32 balls. He further milked Aaron Hardie for 25 runs in the 18th over with the help of three sixes and four to move into the 90s.
Gaikwad completed his hundred in 52 balls
Gaikwad brought up his hundred in style by launching Glenn Maxwell for a maximum towards deep mid-wicket and reached the milestone off just 52 balls. He further managed to get 30 runs off the last over clobbering Maxwell for three sixes and two boundaries to finish the innings on an unbeaten 123* (57). Courtesy of his knock, India posted a massive score of 222/3 in their allotted 20 overs.
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Notably, it was the first ever hundred by an Indian player vs Australia. He also became the ninth Indian batter to score a hundred in T20Is and registered the second-highest individual score by an Indian in the shortest format. Gaikwad added 141* runs for the fourth wicket with Tilak Varma (31* off 24) off just 59 balls where he did the bulk of the scoring.
Meanwhile, X was abuzz with reactions on Gaikwad’s masterclass.
Here are some of the posts:
28th November 2022 – Ruturaj Gaikwad smashed 7 sixes in an over.
28th November 2023 – Ruturaj scored 123* (57) against Australia.
– The day of Ruturaj…!!! pic.twitter.com/bevyniMa0U
— Prince Shukla (@Princeshukla969) November 28, 2023
Ruturaj Gaikwad tonight:
First 21 balls – 21 runs.
Next 31 balls – 81 runs.
– The acceleration of the highest order…!!!!
— Harshit Srivastava (@HarshitSri37796) November 28, 2023
The six hitting masterclass by Ruturaj Gaikwad.
— 𝚂𝙰𝚁𝙳𝙰𝚁 𝚂𝙷𝙰𝙸𝚁 (@doggarsb143) November 28, 2023