Colin Munro has beaten Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum, Evin Lewis, Rohit Sharma to become the first batsman to score three centuries in T20I cricket. Munro reached his century in just 47 balls. He scored 104 runs off 53 balls including 3 fours and 10 sixes. He scored at a strike rate of 196.2.
Munro seems to have hit a purple patch at the start of the year as he scored a fifty in the second T20I and then a hundred. This is Munro’s third T20I hundred in a span of a year. His innings helped New Zealand post a total of 243 for 5 in 20 overs which is the 6th highest total in the history of T20I cricket.
The left-handed opener scored his first T20I century against Bangladesh on January 6, 2017. He scored 101 runs from 54 balls. He scored his second century against India at Rajkot. He also became the first batsman to score two T20I hundreds in a year. Munro has taken 36 innings to score three T20I hundreds.
HISTORY for Colin Munro! The first man to three Twenty20 International centuries. Also the fastest by a New Zealander from just 47 balls. Live scoring | https://t.co/ZByNv64kbj #NZvWI pic.twitter.com/svvk3h6jIF
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) January 3, 2018
Here is the highlight of his innings –
.@manuz05 hundred highlights pic.twitter.com/gKALuScV62
— Williamson Fans (@KW_Fans) January 3, 2018
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The Kiwi opener also became the second batsman to register 50-plus scores in all the matches of a three T20I series. Virat Kohli achieved this feat against Australia in 2016. His hundred is also the joint-fifth fastest century in T20I cricket along with Aaron Finch and Chris Gayle.
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He shared a partnership of 136 runs with Martin Guptill which is also among the top 10 highest first wicket partnership in T20I cricket. Guptill got out after scoring 63 runs from 38 balls including 5 fours and 2 sixes.
