Abhishek makes history, reaches six-hitting milestone no batter has touched before

India opener Abhishek Sharma became the first batter to hit 100 sixes in the powerplay in T20 Internationals during the second T20I against New Zealand in Christchurch on Saturday.

Abhishek reached the milestone with a six over extra cover off Matt Henry in the third over of India's chase. He had gone past former India captain Rohit Sharma, who hit 98 powerplay sixes in his T20I career, in the series opener on Thursday. Since making his T20I debut in 2024, Abhishek has established himself as one of India's leading six-hitters. He also holds the record for the fastest T20I century by a batter from a full-member nation.

Most sixes in Overs 1-6 in T20Is

100* - Abhishek Sharma (Balls/six: 7.77)

98 - Rohit Sharma (Balls/six: 17.05)

97 - Martin Guptill (Balls/six: 16.58)

94 - Paul Stirling (Balls/six: 21.03)

87 - Quinton de Kock (Balls/six: 15.80)

*where ball-by-ball data available

However, Abhishek could not convert his start into a big score on Saturday. He was dismissed by Mitchell Santner in the ninth over after scoring 27 off 21 balls.

Tilak Varma's unbeaten 51 off 26 balls helped India beat New Zealand by four wickets and take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series. Chasing 180, India were struggling at 112/6 in the 15th over when Tilak took charge of the chase. He struck six fours and a six to keep India in the contest, while Nitish Kumar Reddy remained unbeaten on 26 and hit the winning runs. Santner was New Zealand's most successful bowler, finishing with figures of 4/21. Earlier, Arshdeep Singh took two wickets for 33 runs, but Glenn Phillips (70) and Bevon Jacobs (56) helped New Zealand post 180/5.