Vaibhav Sooryavanshi continued to rewrite records as the 15-year-old became only the first player in men’s international cricket to register multiple scores of 50 or more before turning 16.The left-handed opener achieved the feat during the third and final T20I against Zimbabwe in Harare on Sunday, scoring 81 off 48 balls to lead India to 192/5 after they elected to bat first.Only Nepal’s Kushal Malla had previously recorded a 50-plus score in men’s internationals before turning 16. Sooryavanshi has now gone one better with two such scores to his name.50-plus scores before turning 16 in Men’s internationals
- 2 – Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (India)
- 1 – Kushal Malla (Nepal)
On a pitch that offered assistance to the bowlers, Sooryavanshi showed a different side to his batting.
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He began cautiously, scoring 11 runs from his first 10 balls and 26 from his first 20 deliveries before bringing up his second T20I fifty in 31 balls.His innings still included some of the strokeplay that has become his trademark. He drove Brad Evans straight down the ground for four off a yorker and later launched off-spinner Sikandar Raza for a 102-metre six. He also reverse-swept Wesley Madhevere for a boundary.While Sooryavanshi settled in, opening partner Abhishek Sharma’s lean run continued. Abhishek edged Blessing Muzarabani to wicketkeeper Tadi Marumani for two, extending his sequence of low scores. His last six innings have produced 10, 16, 3, 1, 8 and 2, dating back to the third T20I against England in Nottingham last month.Sooryavanshi then added 75 runs for the second wicket with Ishan Kishan, who made 29, before sharing a 50-run partnership with captain Shreyas Iyer, who scored 27.The youngster looked set for a century before Wesley Madhevere dismissed him. Brad Evans completed a catch at long-off to end his innings on 81.India could not maintain the same scoring rate after the departures of Sooryavanshi and Shreyas. The middle order added only 47 runs in the final five overs, with Rinku Singh’s 25 off 14 balls helping India move closer to the 200-run mark.India finished on 192/5, a total that could prove competitive on a surface offering help to the bowlers.