SMAT: Record-breaking Abhishek Sharma flattens Bengal with 58-ball 148

Hyderabad: The record-breaking Abhishek Sharma bludgeoned the Mohammed Shami-led Bengal attack into submission with a brutal 52-ball 148, which comprised a staggering 16 sixes, to power Punjab to a 112-run win in a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Group C match here Sunday.

Playing in the manner that best defines his batting, Abhishek raced to a 12-ball half-century, which is the joint-third-fastest fifty and joint-second-fastest by an Indian in men's T20 cricket.

Thanks to his explosive knock against an incisive attack spearheaded by seasoned campaigner Shami and the nippy Akash Deep, Punjab amassed an imposing 310 for five batting first.

Bengal were stopped at 198 for nine in their allotted 20 overs despite a 66-ball 130-run knock by skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran, who also hit eight sixes and 13 fours.

In terms of sixes struck in a T20 innings by an Indian, Abhishek is now placed second in the list behind Punit Bisht (17), who got it in a domestic game against Mizoram.

Opening the batting with Prabhsimran Singh (70 off 35 balls), Abhishek launched into a brutal onslaught on the likes of Shami, Akash Deep, Writtick Chatterjee and Shahbaz Ahmed.

The Bengal bowlers were scurrying for cover as Abhishek found the sixes and fours at will at the same Uppal stadium, where he blazed away to a 55-ball 141 for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Punjab Kings in the last Indian Premier League.

The swashbuckling opener scored his runs at more than 15 runs an over against both Shami (1/61 in 4 overs) and Akash Deep (2/55 in 4 overs) as well as Saksham Choudhary (1/35 in 2 overs) and Chatterjee (0/67 in 4 overs).

Abhishek smashed five fours and as many sixes to get to his fifty, playing only one dot ball in the 12 balls he had faced to get to the mark.

With this effort, the 25-year-old Abhishek also broke his own record for most T20 sixes in a calendar year.

Punjab's total is the second highest in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, behind Baroda's 349 for five against Sikkim in Indore in December 2024.

While Sahil Chauhan holds the record for the fastest century in T20 cricket, achieving it in 27 balls for Estonia against Cyprus last year, Abhishek got to his hundred in 32 balls on Sunday.

Abhishek and Prabhsimran added 205 runs for the opening stand in little over 13 overs, and left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar then returned excellent figures of 4/23 in four overs on a day when all the other bowlers were taken to the cleaners.

As far as Bengal batters were concerned, Akash Deep (31 off 7 balls) was the only other batter to get to double digit besides their captain Easwaran.

Brief scores: Punjab 310/5 in 20 overs (Abhishek Sharma 148, Prabhsimran Singh 70) beat Bengal 198/9 in 20 overs (Abhimanyu Easwaran 130; Harpreet Brar 4/23) by 112 runs.