Indian opener Abhishek Sharma has continued his dangerous batting form in the five-match T20I series opener against England at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, as his dominant batting destroyed the visitors. 

Chasing down the 133 runs target, which wasn’t a big deal at the Eden Gardens pitch, opener Sanju Samson provided a solid start with 22 runs against Gus Atkinson in the second over of the innings. Jofra Archer brought some hope with two wickets in the fifth over of the innings by dismissing Samson (26) and the skipper Suryakumar Yadav (0), but the other opener Abhishek Sharma produced a powerful performance and denied any further hiccup for the hosts. 

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Abhishek Sharma recorded second fastest T20I half-century by an Indian against England

The left-handed batter Sharma completed his second T20I half-century in just 20 balls as he recorded the second-fastest T20I half-century by an Indian against England. The record is obviously the popular 12-ball half-century by Yuvraj Singh during the ICC World T20 2007, where the left-handed Indian batter smashed six sixes in an over of Stuart Broad.

Most sixes by an Indian against England

Sharma scored 79 off 34 balls with the help of five fours and eight sixes. His eight sixes set a new record for most sixes by an Indian batter against England in a T20I innings. Yuvraj Singh was the previous record holder in this list with seven sixes during their ICC World T20 2007 clash. In the 84-run partnership with Tilak Varma for the third wicket, Sharma completely dominated with his bat.

When Adil Rashid took Sharma’s wicket, India were only eight runs away from the win, and they had 49 balls remaining. Without any doubt, the hosts comfortably chased the target and won by seven wickets with 43 balls remaining.

Abhishek Sharma in dream form

While Sharma scored a duck on his T20I debut and a century in the next game, it was his second half-century in the last three T20I matches.

In the recently concluded domestic one-day tournament, Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25, Abhishek Sharma scored four consecutive 50+ scores, including Punjab’s highest List A score of 170 runs, and five 50+ scores in six games.