South Africa created history in the second T20I of the series against West Indies at SuperSport Park in Centurion, chasing down an unbelievable target of 259 to shatter multiple records. Batting first after losing the toss, West Indies posted 258/5 on the board as Johnson Charles smashed 118 off 48 balls, while Romario Shepherd slammed an unbeaten 41 in 18 deliveries. Kyle Mayers also chipped in with 51 off 27. South Africa chased the target in 18.5 overs as Quinton de Kock clobbered 100 in 44 balls.
In other international matches of the week, New Zealand hammered Sri Lanka by 198 runs in the first ODI at Eden Park in Auckland. Also, Afghanistan won the first two matches of their T20I series against Pakistan in Sharjah. Also, Bangladesh beat Ireland by 10 wickets in the third ODI at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.
List of records broken in South Africa’s chase over West Indies
South Africa’s chase of 258 is the biggest score ever chased down by a team in T20Is. The previous record was held by Bulgaria, who scored 246/4 in a huge run-chase against Serbia in June 2022. Among Test-playing nations, Australia chased 244 against New Zealand in 2018.
South Africa also broke the Powerplay record during their historic chase. They scored 102 runs for no loss in their first six overs. The previous record was held by West Indies, which scored 98 runs against Sri Lanka in 2021.
South Africa and West Indies scored a combined 517 runs in the second T20I at the SuperSport Park in Centurion. This is now the highest match aggregate in any T20 game. The previous highest was 515 between Multan Sultans and Quetta Gladiators in Rawalpindi in March 2023.
De Kock’s 43-ball hundred is now the second-fastest century by a South African batter in T20Is. David Miller, who hammered one in 35 balls against Bangladesh in 2017, holds the Proteas record. De Kock’s knock is, however, the fastest by a wicketkeeper in T20Is. He also registered the fastest fifty by a South African in T20Is.
For West Indies, Charles hammered 118 in 46 balls. He got to his 100 in 39 balls, breaking Chris Gayle’s record for the fastest hundred by a West Indies batter in T20Is. Gayle scored a hundred in 47 balls against England in the 2016 T20 World Cup.
Afghanistan register a historic series win over Pakistan
Afghanistan beat Pakistan by six wickets in the first T20I of the three-match in Sharjah. With it, Afghanistan registered their first-ever T20I win over Pakistan. Fazalhaq Farooqi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, and Mohammad Nabi claimed two scalps each as Afghanistan held Pakistan to 92/9. Nabi then top-scored with an unbeaten 38 as Afghanistan chased the target in 17.5 overs. Afghanistan clinched the series by beating Pakistan by seven wickets in the second match. Farooqi claimed 2/19 as Pakistan were restricted to 130/6 despite Imad Wasim’s unbeaten 64. Rahmanullah Gurbaz (44), Ibrahim Zadran (38), and Najibullah Zadran (23 not out off 12) then starred in a famous win for Afghanistan.
New Zealand hammer Sri Lanka
New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by 198 runs to go 1-0 up in the three-match ODI series. Kiwis’ win is their biggest win over Lanka (in terms of runs) in men’s ODIs. New Zealand posted 274, batting first. Henry Shipley then claimed 5/31 in seven overs, his maiden fiver-fer in ODI cricket as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 76 in 19.5 overs.
Bangladesh’s first-ever 10-wicket win in ODIs
In the third one-dayer between Bangladesh and Ireland at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium, the former registered their first-ever 10-wicket win in one-dayers. Hasan Mahmud’s 5/32 held Ireland to 101 all out in 28.1 overs. Litton Das (50 not out) and Tamim Iqbal (41 not out) saw Bangladesh chase the target in 13.1 overs.