Canada's 19-year-old Yuvraj Samra etched his name in T20 World Cup history by becoming the youngest player to score a century, in the Group D match against New Zealand.
Key Points
- Yuvraj Samra, age 19, becomes the youngest player to score a century in T20 World Cup history.
- Samra's explosive innings included 6 sixes and 11 fours.
- Samra and Dilpreet Bajwa forged a 116-run opening partnership, the highest for an Associate team against a Full Member in T20 World Cups.
- New Zealand's depleted bowling attack struggled to contain Samra, who capitalized on dropped catches to reach his century.
Nineteen-year-old Yuvraj Samra produced a fearless 110 to become the youngest batter to score a century in T20 World Cup history as Canada posted a challenging 173 for 4, in their must-win Group D clash against New Zealand, in Chennai, on Tuesday.
However, his brilliant knock hardly mattered, as New Zealand, in reply, overhauled the target in 15.1 overs, with Rachin Ravindra scoring an unbeaten 59 runs off 39 balls and Glenn Phillips contributing 77 not out off 36 balls.
Their partnership yielded 146 runs for the third wicket.
Named after India's World Cup-winning all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, the left-hander scripted his own chapter with a 58-ball hundred, adding to his earlier feat of being the youngest to score a fifty in the tournament at 19 years and 141 days.
The record for the fastest hundred in the T20 World Cup was previously held by Pakistan's Ahmed Shehzad, who was 22-year-old when he hit a hundred against Bangladesh in the 2014 edition.
He is also the third Canadian to register a half-century in this edition.
Samra smashed six sixes and 11 fours in his 65-ball knock, taking full advantage of a depleted New Zealand attack minus Lockie Ferguson (personal leave) and Mitchell Santner (indisposed).
He set the tone early, taking on pace spearhead Matt Henry in the opening over with back to back fours.
He then shifted gears in the final over of the powerplay, hammering James Neesham for 18 runs.
After two dot balls, he unleashed a sequence of 4, 4, 4, 6 -- pulling behind square, muscling one over mid-wicket, drilling a straight drive and finishing with a stunning upper-cut over point -- to race to 29 off 17 balls.
Samra's record-breaking partnership
Samra brought up his fifty off just 36 balls and found solid support from skipper Dilpreet Bajwa as the duo stitched together a 116-run opening stand -- the highest first-wicket partnership by an Associate team against a Full Member in men's T20 World Cups.
Bajwa was clearly overshadowed and got out for 36 off 39 balls.
Samra also had luck on his side, dropped on 91 when Henry failed to hold on at deep extra cover and again on 107 off Neesham.
However, New Zealand found some relief in the final three overs, conceding just 23 runs and picking up two wickets to deny Canada a 180-plus total.
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