Ruturaj Gaikwad of Team India hit a 52-ball century to push his team to a mammoth total of 222/3 in the first innings of the third T20I against Australia on Tuesday (November 28) in Guwahati.
Ruturaj timed his innings perfectly and used his beautiful strokeplay to take down the bowling assault in the last overs. The CSK batsman got 21 runs off the first 21 balls he faced but then surged to his maiden century in international cricket.
Gaikwad hit the century mark against Glenn Maxwell with a six over deep midwicket on the opening delivery of the 20th over. He celebrated the hundredth with a big smile, accepting everyone’s applause.
You may see the scene in the video below:
Ruturaj Gaikwad’s calm innings after India lose 2 early wickets in 3rd T20I
Australia captain Matthew Wade won the toss and chose to bowl first. With the new ball, Kane Richardson and Jason Behrendorff extracted swing and challenged the Indian top-order hitters. Yashasvi Jaiswal attempted to hit his way out but was caught in the second over for 6 (6).
Ishan Kishan seemed out of sorts and was out for a 5-ball duck in the following over. Suryakumar Yadav and Ruturaj Gaikwad then weathered the storm by batting cautiously against Behrendorf’s fast bowling.
Suryakumar Yadav played intelligently and aggressively against the other bowlers to keep the scoreboard ticking. Ruturaj took his time and kept one end up as the Indian captain sped forward after the powerplay. Aaron Hardie removed Surya (39 off 29) in the 11th over, ending a 57-run third-wicket stand.
Things only got worse for Australia from there, as Ruturaj Gaikwad abruptly changed gears and went on a rampage, smashing bowlers all over the field. Tilak Varma (31* off 24) supported him with a good knock. Ruturaj smashed 13 fours and seven sixes on his way to 123* (57), which helped India reach a huge total of 222.