Picture Credit : BCCi

Picture Credit : BCCi

Ishan Kishan continued his red-hot form as he smashed a century against New Zealand in the fifth T20I at Thiruvananthapuram. Ishan Kishan came into bat when India were 31/1 and although he started a bit cautiously scoring 13 runs of his first seven ball he soon changed gears and got going. Ishan Kishan reached his half-century of just 28 balls. He got to the landmark with a boundary against Ish Sodhi. In this innings he was particularly brutal against the leg-spinner. In the 12th over of the match Ishan Kishan smashed 28 runs against Ish Sodhi in a single over which included 4 fours and two sixes.

At the start of the 12th over Kishan was on 47 and he smashed 28 runs in the over and by the start of the 13th over he raced to 75 runs of just 33 balls. Ishan scored six fours and ten sixes on his way to a century. He brought up his milestone in 42 balls. He got to the century with a six off Mitch Santner and celebrated in front of a packed house at Thiruvananthapuram.

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Ishan Kishan already scored a half century earlier in this series and now this century means that he has firmly put his name for the main wicket-keeper spot in the upcoming WT20. Sanju Samson has been in poor form throughout the series and Ishan Kishan now could start in the playing XI for the WT20 after this performance even when all the players are fit and available for selection. In this series, Kishan has scores of 8, 76, 28 and now this century.

India were batting first in the 5th T20I and lost Sanju Samson for six as they lost the first wicket on 31, then Abhishek Sharma continued his good form scoring 30 runs of 16 balls before getting dismissed. India were 48/2 at the end of 5 overs. Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav put up a masterclass as they stiched a partnership of 137. Suryakumar Yadav was dismissed by Mitch Santner for 63 runs of just 30 balls. Ishan Kishan has completed his century and along with Hardik Pandya has given India a very good total at the halfway mark.