Richard Levi broke the record for the fastest century and most sixes hit in a T20 International

Image courtesy of: Unsplash

South Africa’s newest addition, Richard Levi, had the dream start of his career, when he broke the record for the fastest century and most sixes hit, in a Twenty20 International match, when they faced New Zealand at Hamilton.

Levi, who opened the batting for South Africa, walloped an unbelievable 117 runs off just a meagre 51 balls, which included five boundaries and 13 sixes, the previous record for sixes being 10.

Levi, who was easily chosen as the Man of the Match, said: “I have no idea about the records, the time just went unbelievably quickly.”

New Zealand lost the toss and were put in to bat, however they posted up a highly competitive total, thanks to all round performances from their top order batsmen. Martin Guptill topped the hosts scoring chart with 47, en route to the teams 173.

South African bowlers Johan Botha, Morne Morkel and Marchant de Lange all picked up one wicket in the tourists effort to restrict New Zealand to the lowest total possible.

South African Captain AB de Villiers was pleased with the teams effort to hold New Zealand at bay. “There’s a few things we can learn, but overall I was very happy with keeping them to 170 with the short boundaries” he said.

South Africa were brilliant in reply to their set target of 174. Levi, as mentioned played an outstanding knock and was well supported by de Villiers, who posted an unbeaten 39, after the team lost opener Hashim Amla and Wayne Parnell early.

New Zealand’s Nathan McCullum and Rob Nicol were the only bowlers to get wickets, as South Africa dispatched them all over the park, reaching their target with an incredible four overs to spare.

The hosts’ Captain, Brendon McCullum, was shocked at the defeat, but still thought his team did well. “We thought we had a chance with 173, we would have liked 190-200 but when someone plays like that, there’s not too much we can do” he said.

De Villiers was extremely pleased with the victory and ending New Zealand’s winning streak, but he was also proud of Levi’s inning. “He’s been fed a bit of biltong back home, but he has done this before so it’s not a one-off. We go to Auckland with momentum now, very happy” he said.

With an absolutely dominant display of cricket, the South Africans tied the series 1-1 and will be looking to finish off New Zealand as the two teams meet for the final Twenty20 International at Auckland on the 22nd of February.