Colin Munro now holds the record for the most hundreds in Twenty20 Internationals

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

New Zealand batsman Colin Munro etched his name into the record books after he blasted a breathtaking 104 to help his side decimate the West Indies by 119 runs in the third Twenty20 International in Mount Maunganui.

With his sensational knock, Munro became the first player in history to score three centuries in Twenty20 Internationals. He also smashed 10 sixes, which is a joint-record for New Zealand players.

In addition to all this, New Zealand recorded their biggest-ever margin of victory in a Twenty20 International.

Choosing to bat first, New Zealand got off to a flying start as Munro and Martin Guptill amassed a 136-run partnership, during which both batsmen raced past their fifty, in just over 11 overs.

Martin Guptill scored his 11th fifty in the shortest format

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

With the Black Caps cruising towards a mammoth total, the West Indies finally got their first breakthrough when Guptill was caught behind off the bowling of debutant Rayad Emrit for 63, which came off 38 balls and included five boundaries and two sixes.

Munro and Tom Bruce kept the runs flowing with a 55-run stand before Bruce was clean bowled by West Indies captain Carlos Brathwaite for 23.

Anaru Kitchen and captain Kane Williamson fell shortly after, while Munro went on to score 104 off 53 balls, which included three boundaries and 10 sixes.

Thanks to Munro, New Zealand ended up making 243/5 off their 20 overs, which is their highest total in Twenty20 Internationals.

Brathwaite was the pick of the bowlers with two wickets, while Brathwaite and Jerome Taylor chipped in with one wicket apiece.

Chasing 244 to win, the West Indies got off to the worst possible start as opener Chadwick Walton was dismissed by Tim Southee on the very first ball of the innings.

Southee struck again four balls later as he had Chris Gayle caught behind for a duck.

Andre Fletcher and Rovman Powell managed to stem the bleeding with a 41-run partnership before Powell was sent packing by Kitchen for 16.

The West Indies continued to lose wickets at regular intervals after Powell’s dismissal, but Fletcher kept on fighting until he was eventually cleaned up by Ish Sodhi for a 32-ball 46, which included four boundaries and three sixes.

However, once Fletcher was gone, the West Indies began to crumble and were eventually bowled out for 124.

Southee was the most successful bowler with three wickets, while Sodhi and Trent Boult snapped up two wickets apiece. As for Kitchen, he claimed one wicket.

Brathwaite admitted that his side were completely outplayed, and said: “We just didn’t execute with the ball, Munro has just had a great couple of games. We decided we were going to go for it, disappointing performance. We were behind the 8-ball, we got ruffled. Munro capitalised on our mistakes. Sometimes you have to say the opposition played better than you.”

Williamson was delighted to have won the series 2-0, and said: “Fantastic series, we know on their day, they are one of the best in the world. The attitude of the guys that came out, some fantastic individual performances. Things have been going well for the guys to play their roles selflessly, it has been outstanding.”

Munro was named Man of the Match and Man of the Series, and said: “The way we started with Guptill, he has been away from cricket for a while. I try and swing from ball one. In this format of the game, it is your night and sometimes it’s not. I’ve played with these guys in the CPL, so I know what they would do to me. I’ve learnt a lot over the last six months. Worked on my technique to play the swinging ball.”