Indian captain Shreyas Iyer added another milestone to his growing international career by crossing 5,000 international runs during the first T20I against England at the Riverside Ground on Wednesday. The landmark came in a captain’s innings when India needed it most. Walking with the visitors reeling at 6/2 after the early dismissals of Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan, Iyer anchored the innings with a composed 68 off 47 balls, hitting six fours and a six to guide India to 189/7.
Shreyas Iyer’s international career
| Format | depart | run | Medium | 100s | 50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tests | 14 | 811 | 36.86 | 1 | 5 |
| HATE | 79 | 3,035 | 45.98 | 5 | 23 |
| T20 Is | 54 | 1,185 | 30.38 | 0 | 9 |
| Total | 147 | 5.031 | 39.61 | 6 | 37 |
Iyer stops India’s recovery
India’s innings got off to a disastrous start as Sanju Samson departed for one before Ishan Kishan was run out for a duck, leaving the visitors under immediate pressure. Abhishek Sharma he then launched a stunning counter-attack, racing to a 20-ball half-century before hammering 59 off just 24 deliveries. During his explosive knock, the left-hander also became the fastest batsman from a Full Member nation to hit 100 T20I sixes, eclipsing Evin Lewis’ record.After Abhishek’s dismissal, Iyer assumed full control of the innings. The skipper rebuilt with Tilak Varma before adding another valuable stand with Shivam Dubeensuring that India maintain the momentum through the middle overs. Dube provided the final flourish with an unbeaten 42 off 21 balls, helping India post a competitive 189/7 despite England clawing back late. Saqib Mahmoodwhich returned figures of 3/33.Shortly after the end of the innings, the rain never stopped and played the spoilsports in the opening of the series and the match was abandoned as the cut off time was in another 45 minutes or more after the first innings, but they did not have enough time to prepare the ground, even if it stopped raining that it did not.