Team India wicket-keeper batter Sanju Samson finally completed 6000 runs in T20 cricket in the fifth and final match of the series against the West Indies on Sunday, August 13 in Lauderhill, Florida. Samson, who didn’t bat in the last two games, needed two runs to reach the milestone which he did in the series decider and became the 13th Indian player to reach the landmark.
Samson required 21 runs before the series to reach the milestone. After scoring 12 and 7 in the first two games, Samson got just 13 runs as a disappointing series came to an end for the 28-year-old. Samson joined the likes of MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav and Shikhar Dhawan among others to reach the milestone for India while Chris Gayle stays at the top of the overall list with an outrageous tally of 14,562 runs.
Most runs in T20 cricket history
11965 – Virat Kohli
11035 – Rohit Sharma
9645 – Shikhar Dhawan
8654 – Suresh Raina
7272 – Robin Uthappa
7271 – MS Dhoni
7081 – Dinesh Karthik
7066 – KL Rahul
6810 – Manish Pandey
6669 – Suryakumar Yadav
6402 – Gautam Gambhir
6028 – Ambati Rayudu
6011 – Sanju Samson
Samson’s tally for the series was just 32 runs in three innings but since he is the first-choice wicket-keeper for the Ireland series, he has another opportunity to make it count.
As for the match, apart from Suryakumar Yadav, none of the other Indian batters came up with anything substantial. Surya after storming back into the form in the third T20I, following a blip, continued from where he left off in Guyana scoring a 45-ball 61. The Men in Blue kept losing wickets at regular intervals and despite Surya’s half-century never found momentum in their innings. Axar’s late strikes helped India get to a score in excess of 160 and will hope to defend on a slightly tricky track in Florida than the one produced for the fourth T20I.