Abhishek hits 28-ball century, the joint second-fastest in T20s

Abhishek Sharma has matched Urvil Patel for the second-fastest T20 century, reaching the landmark in 28 balls in a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match for Punjab against Meghalaya. Urvil had got there last week, when he scored 113 not out in 35 balls for Gujarat against Tripura in the same tournament. The record belongs to Sahil Chauhan, who scored a 27-ball century for Estonia against Cyprus in June this year.

This was also Abhishek's fourth century in the tournament, making him No. 1 on that list, ahead of Unmukt Chand, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer, who have three each.

Opening the batting in Punjab's chase of Meghalaya's 142 for 7 in Rajkot, Abhishek finished with 106 not out off 29 balls. Punjab got to their target in just 9.3 overs thanks mainly to Abhishek's swashbuckling innings. The win was Punjab's fifth in seven Group-A matches and the net-run-rate boost as a result of the speed of their win keeps them in the fray for progressing to the knockouts.

Abhishek, who formed a destructive opening combination with Travis Head for Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2024, was retained by the franchise ahead of the upcoming season for INR 14 crore (US$1.67 million approx.).

Earlier in the day, Baroda broke the record for the highest team total in men's T20 cricket when they posted 349 for 5 against Sikkim in Indore.