Virat Kohli equals Williamson’s record with consecutive T20I fifties

New Delhi: While Virat Kohli’s impressive knock on Tuesday failed to prove enough for India to win the third T20I against England, it helped the skipper to achieve a new personal milestone.

Kohli played an unbeaten knock of 77 runs against England, powering his side to a total of 156 runs. This was the skipper’s second consecutive half-century and with this, he drew level with New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson’s record of most number of half-centuries by a captain in T20I cricket. Both, Kohli and Williamson, now have 11 fifties as a captain under their belt in the format. In the previous match, with his knock of 73*, Kohli had become the first-ever batsman to complete 3,000 runs in T20Is. Kohli now has 3078 runs in the shortest format of the game in 88 games.

In the third T20I, Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow guided England to an eight-wicket victory. Buttler and Bairstow remained unbeaten on 83 and 40 respectively.

Earlier, Kohli’s unbeaten knock of 77 runs off just 46 balls had helped India post 156/6 in the allotted 20 overs. Down and out going into the last five overs of the innings, Kohli led from the front in all-rounder Hardik Pandya’s company as the duo added 69 runs from 30 balls to take the hosts’ total past the 150-run mark.

Hardik had joined Kohli with the score on 86/5 in 14.3 overs and what followed was nothing short of a master-class on power-hitting. Interestingly, it was Hardik who played second-fiddle in their 70-run partnership off just 33 balls as Kohli went on a hitting spree. This was India’s highest sixth-wicket partnership in T20Is.

Mark Wood rattled the Indian batters as he dismissed the top-order in no time and the hosts were left reeling inside the first six overs.
With the win in the third T20I, England has now gained a 2-1 lead in the five-match series. Both teams will now meet in the fourth T20I on Thursday which will be played at the same venue.