New Zealand batsman Colin Munro put on a spectacle at Eden Park on Sunday when the Kiwis faced Sri Lanka in the second T20, which not only got his name firmly in the record books, but also has shown Blackcaps fans that there is still plenty of talent left to fill the hole once captain Brendon McCullum retires.
After being drafted into the T20 squad, the number three batsman slogged his way to a 14-ball 50 that helped launch his team to a massive nine-wicket victory against Sri Lanka, giving them a 2-0 series win to end off their tour.
Colin Munro’s Eden Park Innings:
0, 6, 2, 6, 0, 6, 6, 0, 6, 1, 6, 1, 4, 6
While Indian batsman Yuvraj Singh currently holds the record for his unbelievable 12-ball half century against England in Durban during 2007, Munro has been the only batsmen to come close to this incredible achievement.
Munro had made a respectable 36 off 26 balls during the first T20 at Mt Maunganui, an innings which included a challenging early period with the boundaries proving difficult to come by. However, his matured game and self-belief allowed him to avoid a mistake he had made all too often in the past and he was able to battle through to a decent score without senselessly throwing his wicket away.
Eden Park could not have been more different for the Auckland lefthander as he and fellow hotshot Martin Guptill put on a show for the crowd that left the fielders will little more to do than retrieve the ball from the stands.
Guptill, in fact, held the New Zealand record for the fastest T20 50 for roughly 10 minutes during the game before Munro blew it out of the water, although he himself was unaware how close he came to being the new record holder worldwide.
New Zealand will be pleased with their overall performances throughout the Sri Lankan tour as they secured victories all through the three formats, making it a complete clean sweep against a struggling Sri Lankan squad.
Its seems almost certain that New Zealand have found the man to replace McCullum once he retires in one of the top three spots of the squad and it could not have come at a better time for the Kiwis considering the World T20 competition is just around the corner, beginning in March in India.
