MUMBAI: Suryakumar Yadav became just the fifth player for India to cross the 8000-run landmark in the T20 format following his scorching display in the Indian Premier League.
The unorthodox batter achieved the feat during Mumbai Indians’ 8-wicket triumph over the defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders in the ongoing 18th edition of the IPL.
It was one-way traffic throughout the encounter between two behemoths of the cash-rich league. Suryakumar, with his dynamism and swagger, came in to leave the spectators mesmerised with his explosive cameo to steer MI to its first win of the season.
The winning maximum came off his bat as he returned to the dressing room triumphant with a score of 27* from a mere nine deliveries, laced with three fours and two towering sixes at a staggering strike rate of 300.
With his short-lived yet influential blitzkrieg, Suryakumar became the fifth Indian batter to cross the 8000-run mark in the T20 format after four stalwarts of the format.
Virat Kohli sits at the summit with a whopping 12,976 runs under his belt, followed by former T20 skipper Rohit Sharma, who boasts 11,851 runs. Former opener Shikhar Dhawan comes in next with 9,797 runs in the format, and Suresh Raina sits in the fourth spot with 8,654 runs in the T20 format.
The emphatic 8-wicket triumph at the Wankhede marked MI’s 24th win over KKR, the most against a team in the competition’s history. At Wankhede, MI relished in its 10th victory against the Knight Riders at its home turf, shattering the record for the most wins against an opponent at a venue in the IPL.
Considering the nature of Wankhede, many spectators anticipated a high-scoring thriller, given the firepower that both sides possess in their arsenal.
However, Ashwani Kumar, a 23-year-old left-arm speedster, left the Knights tottering with his searing four-wicket haul. He made his IPL debut a day to remember and returned with figures of 4/24.
With KKR folding on a paltry 116, Ryan Rickelton found his groove and hammered an unbeaten 62 as MI trounced the defending champions to end its two-match losing streak and celebrate its first win of the season. (ANI)
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