Sikandar Raza achieves unprecedented feat after smashing fifth consecutive T20I fifty

Zimbabwe are currently playing a three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka in the island nation. Sikandar Raza and Co. lost the first T20I in Colombo on Sunday, January 14, off the last ball as Sri Lanka prevailed by three wickets.

In the first innings, Raza played a fantastic knock of 62 off 42 balls, hitting five fours and two sixes. He reached his half-century off 37 balls. When he reached the milestone, Raza etched his name in the history books as he became the first batter in T20I cricket to amass five consecutive fifties.

The Zimbabwe captain came into the series after hitting four fifties in his last four T20I appearances. These four half-centuries came in Zimbabwe's last four matches in the Africa Region Qualifier, which was played last year in November 2023 in Namibia. Raza scored 48 (39), 58 (36), 65 (37), and 82 (48) against Uganda, Rwanda, Nigeria, and Kenya, respectively.

Zimbabwe narrowly missed out on qualification for the T20 World Cup 2024 as they finished third on the points table behind Namibia and Uganda, who booked their spots for the marquee event.

Before his half-century against Sri Lanka in the first T20I, Raza was in the company of Brendon McCullum, Chris Gayle, Craig Williams, Rayyan Pathan, Gustav Mckeon and Reeza Hendricks, who all had four consecutive fifties in the shortest format in international cricket. In all T20Is, New Zealand Women’s cricketer Sophie Devine holds the record with six consecutive fifty-plus scores.

Raza has also picked up at least two wickets in each of his last five matches. Against Sri Lanka, he finished with remarkable figures of 3/13 in his four overs. However, his all-round heroics weren't enough to take Zimbabwe to the finishing line.

Chasing a target of 144, Sri Lanka huffed and puffed their way to a win after Dushmantha Chameera hit six runs off the final two balls of the 20th over bowled by Blessing Muzarabani. Angelo Mathews, on his T20I comeback, won the Player of the Match award after scoring a 38-ball 46 that helped the hosts recover from 83/6 at the end of 14 overs.

The second T20I is set to be played on Tuesday, January 16 in Colombo. Zimbabwe will have to win the match to keep the series alive.