Shimron Hetmyer Sets Record with Fastest T20 WC Fifty for West Indies
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
Mumbai, Feb 23 (NationPress) West Indies batsman Shimron Hetmyer delivered an electrifying performance, achieving the fastest half-century by a Caribbean player in the T20 World Cup during the Super 8 Group 1 match against Zimbabwe at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Monday.
Opting to bat first, Hetmyer reached the remarkable milestone in just 19 balls, striking four boundaries and five sixes, thus breaking his own previous record for the fastest fifty by a West Indies player in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
Earlier, he had smashed a half-century in 22 balls against Scotland during the tournament's opening match at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, surpassing Chris Gayle's earlier record of fifty runs in 23 balls from 2009.
Hetmyer entered the field after Brandon King was dismissed in the third over, with the West Indies at 17/1. He formed a solid 37-run partnership with captain Shai Hope (14).
Starting with a boundary from Richard Ngarava in the third over and another from Blessings Muzarabani shortly thereafter, Hetmyer was given a second chance when Tashinga Musekiwa dropped a simple catch at long-leg from a pull shot off Muzarabani.
At that point, Hetmyer was on 10 runs and quickly escalated his innings, hitting back-to-back boundaries off Ngarava in the fifth over. He followed this up with back-to-back sixes off Graeme Cremer in the seventh over, the first soaring into the deep mid-wicket stands and the second clearing the cow corner.
In the next over, he unleashed a barrage, hitting Zimbabwe's captain Sikander Raza for three sixes in four legal deliveries as the West Indies surged to 92/2 by the eighth over, completing his half-century in just 19 balls.