Yorkshire's Adam Lyth Hammers Third-Highest Individual Score In T20 Cricket
The batsman scored 161 off 73 ball against Northamptonshire in the NatWest T20 Blast in England.
Highlights
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Lyth was 14 runs short of surpassing Chris Gayle's 175
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Yorkshire's 260 was 4 runs short of breaking the world record team total
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I'm over the moon with my performance, said Lyth
Yorkshire batsman Adam Lyth scripted county cricket history as he notched up the third-highest Twenty20 individual score on August 17 as Yorkshire achieved the highest team total of 260/4 in 20 overs in the NatWest T20 Blast against Northamptonshire. Lyth's score of 161 runs off 73 balls with 20 boundaries and seven maximums was an innings of uninhibited power hitting. The left-handed batsman was only 14 runs short of surpassing West Indian Chris Gayle's 175 not out from 66 balls for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) against Pune Warriors. Zimbabwe's Hamilton Mazakadza's unbeaten 162 for Mountaineers against Eagles, which was made last year, remains the second highest T20 score.
EXCEPTIONAL BATTING @lythy09 hits his maiden T20 & it's been a joy to watch #Blast17 pic.twitter.com/NKanJ25Zbu
— NatWest T20 Blast (@NatWestT20Blast) August 17, 2017
Yorkshire's 260 was just four runs short of breaking the world record team total. The current record is held by RCB and Australia, both of whom scored 263 in an innings.
"I'm pretty speechless to be honest. The power play went very well and I kicked on from there. I kept on trying to clear the ropes," Lyth was quoted as saying by Yorkshire County Cricket Club.
"I'm over the moon with my performance," he added.
"Absolutely over the moon with my performance and the team's performance"
— Yorkshire CCC (@YorkshireCCC) August 17, 2017
Hear from @lythy09 after his 161 #YourYorkshire pic.twitter.com/kSn65AJ3Iw
Lyth's whirlwind knock also surpassed Brendon McCullum's 158 for Warwickshire as the highest individual score in English domestic county and helped Yorkshire register the highest county team total, which was previously held by Gloucestershire, who ended up with 254.
In reply, Northamptonshire made a steady start as the openers reached 72 for the loss of one wicket but from that point on they lost wickets at regular intervals. Off-spinner Azeem Rafid starred with the ball for Yorkshire, taking five wickets and giving away just 19 runs from his 4 overs.
In the end, unable to keep up with the run-rate, Northamptonshire were bundled out for 136 and lost the match by a whopping 124 runs.