Couple of days after altering the record books with his maiden T20 ton, Jharkhand skipper Ishan Kishan slammed his second consecutive century against Manipur in a Group 'A' match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on Sunday.
Kishan’s unbeaten 62-ball 113 and a 73-run knock by Virat Singh powered Jharkhand to a 219-run total in their 20-over quota. The duo piled up 165 runs for the unfinished second wicket partnership that set the stage for Jharkhand's third consecutive win in the tournament. They have now moved to the top of Group 'A' standings with the third straight win.
With this feat, Kishan became only the second Indian to score back-to-back centuries in the shortest format after Delhi’s Unmukt Chand, who achieved the feat in 2013. The 20-year-old also joined the list of international batsmen like David Warner, Kevin Pietersen, Luke Wright, and Reeza Hendricks who are amongst batsmen scoring two back-to-back T20 centuries.
Chasing the formidable target of 220, Manipur folded up for 98 for 9 in 20 overs with Yashpal Singh (40) alone offering some resistance as the Jharkhand bowlers emerged on top, capitalising on the good show by their batsmen.
Kishan and fellow opener Anand Singh (26, 12b, 4X4 1X6) gave their team a racy start punishing the bowlers mercilessly. The young Jharkhand skipper continued his impressive run as he along with Singh hoisted the team's 50 in the fifth over itself.
Singh fell against the run of play, spooning a catch in the cover region off Priyojit Singh after addition of four runs to the total.
Virat Singh then joined Kishan and the two southpaws went about demolishing the Manipur bowlers with a mix of blistering drives and lofted shots as the bowlers struggled. After striking his 50 off 35 balls, Kishan mounted a savage attack, taking only 19 more balls to reach his ton.
In reply, Manipur was never in the hunt and lost wickets at regular intervals. Yashpal Singh's 40 (31 balls, 6X4) was the only significant contribution as the Jharkhand bowlers kept a tight leash.
In Jharkhand’s previous game, Kishan slammed his first T20 century and became only the 5th player in the world to score a T20 hundred while fulfilling keeper and captain’s role. The other four players who have done it in the past are Moin Khan, Adam Gilchrist, Kamran Akmal, and Upul Tharanga.
Brief scores: Jharkhand 219 for 1 in overs (Ishan Kishan 113 not out, Virat Singh 73 not out, Anand Singh 26 beat Manipur 98 for 9 in 20 overs (Yashpal Singh 40, Rahul Shukla 3 for 14) by 121 runs.
Points: Jharkhand: 4, Manipur: 0