Raza becomes only 2nd player with 3,000 runs and 100 wickets

Agency :

Zimbabwe Captain Sikandar Raza added another milestone to his T20 career by becoming only the second player in international men’s T20 history to achieve the double of 3,000 runs and 100 wickets. He reached the landmark during Zimbabwe’s must-win clash against India in Chennai on Thursday.
Raza won the toss and chose to field. Despite a challenging outing for Zimbabwe’s bowlers, he returned figures of 1/29 from three overs.
With the bat, he struck 31 runs from 21 deliveries, including two fours and two sixes. This innings took his career tally to 3,016 runs and 104 wickets in 132 T20 internationals. Only Malaysia’s Virandeep Singh, with 3,180 runs and 109 wickets in 111 matches, has previously achieved this rare feat.
Raza’s teammate Brian Bennett has also been in sensational form, setting a new record for the highest batting average in a single T20 World Cup. He scored 277 runs in five innings, including three half-centuries, giving him an astonishing average of 277. Only West Indies bowlers have dismissed him in the tournament so far.
Even if Bennett were dismissed for a duck in Zimbabwe’s final match, his average would remain at 138.5 – surpassing Virat Kohli’s strike rate of 136.5 in the 2016 T20 World Cup. In the defeat to India, Bennett narrowly missed his second T20 international century, scoring 97 out of Zimbabwe’s total of 184. Zimbabwe lost the match by 72 runs.
Zimbabwe reached the Super Eight stage as Group B winners, finishing ahead of Sri Lanka and Australia. However, heavy defeats against West Indies and India hampered their momentum.
Raza took responsibility for the team’s recent performances, stating: “In the previous match against West Indies, they scored 254 and our batting collapsed. Our bowling plans were defensive, and once India’s run flow started, it became difficult to stop. If we could have restricted them to 210-220, anything might have been possible.”
Zimbabwe will next face South Africa at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on February 28.