Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], February 26 (ANI): Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza etched his name in the record books after becoming the first cricketer from a Full Member nation to complete the double of 3,000 runs and 100 wickets in Men's T20 Internationals.
Raza achieved the milestone during Zimbabwe's Super Eight clash against India in the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Thursday. The seasoned all-rounder reached the 3,000-run mark with his 15th run in the match, becoming the 14th player overall to cross the landmark in T20Is.
The 39-year-old, who made his T20I debut in 2013, reached the milestone in his 132nd match. He now has 3,016 runs in 132 appearances (127 innings) at an average of 26.22 and a strike rate of over 136. His tally includes one century and 16 half-centuries. With the ball, Raza has picked up 104 wickets at an average of 23.94, including two four-wicket hauls and a five-wicket haul.
According to ESPNcricinfo, Raza is only the second player overall to achieve the rare 3,000-run and 100-wicket double in T20Is, with Malaysia's Virandeep Singh being the other.
In the Super Eight match, Raza also brought up another significant landmark in his T20 career. With his seventh run of the innings, he completed 7,000 runs in T20 cricket overall. Across 348 T20 matches, he has registered one century and 37 fifties, underlining his longevity and consistency in the shortest format.
Notably, Raza remains the only Zimbabwean to surpass 3,000 runs in T20Is, with no other player from the country even reaching the 2,000-run mark. Ryan Burl is the second with 1943 runs in T20Is.
Raza made 31 runs off 21 balls in the match and also picked up a wicket while bowling.
Zimbabwe lost the match by a big margin of 72 runs and was knocked out of the tournament. (ANI)