Hyderabad: February 17, 2005 will be a date that has been etched into cricket history as on this date the first-ever men's T20I was played. The match took place between Australia and New Zealand at Auckland.
The very first T20I game turned out be engrossing as Australia managed to score 214/5 in the allotted twenty overs and the hosts failed to chase down the score as they were bowled out for 170.
Australia skipper Ricky Ponting was adjudged the Man of the Match as he thrashed 98 runs from just 55 balls with eight fours and five 6s.
Since the day of its inception in the international arena, there was no looking back for T20 cricket and over the years, the shortest format of the game has become the crowd favourite.
WHY and WHEN?
Twenty20 was started in an effort to make cricket more exciting and accessible to those who were put off by the lengthy game in its original format.
The marketing manager of ECB, Stuart Robertson, was the first to propose a 20-over innings to the chairmen of the county in 2001 and it was the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) who originally introduced the T20 format for cricket in 2003 for an inter-county cricket competition in England and Wales.
The first official T20 matches were played between the English counties On June 13, 2003.
The first T20 International match took place on August 5, 2004, between the women's teams on England and New Zealand which the latter won by nine runs.
Take a look at the statistical journey of T20I cricket so far:
OVERALL RECORDS
TEAM RECORDS
HIGHEST INNINGS TOTAL:
Afghanistan 278/3 against Ireland in Dehradun in 2019.
HIGHEST INNINGS TOTAL BATTING SECOND:
Australia scored 245/5 in 18.5 overs to win the match against New Zealand in Auckland in 2018.
LOWEST INNINGS TOTAL:
Turkey 21/10 in 8.3 overs at Iflov County in 2019.
LARGEST MARGIN OF VICTORY (BY RUNS):
Czech Republic defeated Turkey by 257 runs at Iflov County in 2019.
HIGHEST MATCH AGGREGATE:
West Indies recorded their highest T20I total – 245 for 6 – against India in 2016 at Lauderhill. India replied with 244 for 4 – their second-highest T20I total. The match aggregate of 489 is the highest ever in T20I history.
MOST SIXES IN AN INNINGS:
Afghanistan smashed 22 sixes against Ireland in Dehradun in 2019.
MOST SIXES IN A MATCH:
The match between India and West Indies at Lauderhill witnessed 32 sixes.
INDIVIDUAL RECORDS
MOST RUNS IN CAREER
Indian skipper Virat Kohli has smashed 2794 runs in the 76 T20I innings till now.
MOST RUNS IN AN INNINGS
Australia skipper Aaron Finch thrashed 172 runs in just 76 balls against Zimbabwe in 2018.
HIGHEST CAREER BATTING AVERAGE
Kohli boasts of highest average (50.80) in T20Is.
HIGHEST CAREER STRIKE RATE
Afghanistan batsman Hazratullah Zazai has a strike rate of 162.69 in T20Is.
MOST RUNS IN DEBUT MATCH
LA Dunbar of Serbia hit 104* on his debut T20I against Bulgaria in 2019.
Indian opener Rohit Sharma has smashed 127 sixes till now in his T20I career.
MOST WICKETS IN CAREER
Sri Lanka's fast bowler Lasisth Malinga has bagged 106 wickets in 82 T20Is he has played so far.
BEST BOWLING FIGURES IN AN INNINGS
Indian pacer Deepak Chahar's 6 for 7 are the best bowling figures in men's T20I history. Chahar. It came against Bangladesh in 2019.
BEST BOWLING FIGURES IN AN INNINGS ON DEBUT
Luxembourg's pacer Ankush Nanda clinched five wickets on his T20I debut against Turkey in 2019.
