West Indies' swashbuckling opener Evin Lewis rings his 28th birthday on Friday. Born on December 27, 1991, the left-handed opener likes to take on the bowler from the outset and can demolish any bowling line-up on his day. Lewis made his international debut when Chris Gayle was in the twilight of his career and has shown great potential to replicate the latter's heroics at the highest level. The batsman has displayed his potential in the fair amount of cricket he has played and is expected to get even better with experience. Evin Lewis Pulls Off Unbelievable Fielding Effort Near Boundary.
Lewis made his maiden international appearance in March 2016 and since then has played many match-defining knocks for West Indies. He burst into the scenes by scoring a sensational T20I century against India in Florida. So, far the opener has scored 1402 runs in 47 ODIs and 833 runs 39 T20I clashes. He also has two centuries apiece in both the formats and will eye to display many more flabbergasting performances in future. Meanwhile, let's look at some of the fantastic knocks played by the opener as he turns 28.
100 Against India in Florida
Indian bowlers would have planned to tackle the likes of Kieron Pollard and Andre Russell in the first T20I against West Indies in 2016 series. However, it was Lewis made the maximum at the top order. The opener scored runs for fun and brought up a century of mere 48 deliveries. His effort guided West Indies to a mammoth total of 245 runs in the first innings which proved to be just enough as the Men in Blue fell one-run short of the target.
125* Against India in Kingston
Lewis' love affair with Indian bowlers continued in the only T20I match of India's 2017 Tour of West Indies. Chasing a challenging total of 191 runs, the left-handed opener didn't take long in launching the attack. He smashed the likes of Mohammed Shami and Ravichandran Ashwin for fun and brought up his second T20I ton against India. Courtsey his brilliant knock, West Indies went over the line with nine wickets in hand.
176* Against England in Oval
The aggressive opener wreaked havoc in the fourth ODI of West Indies' 2017 Tour of England and played a colossal knock. He displayed his intent from ball one and demolished the English bowlers in their own backyard. He went on to score a century and even looked all set for A double ton too. However, he sustained an injury in the middle of his innings and was retired hurt for 176 runs. His knocked guided the visitors to a huge score of 356 runs in the first innings. However, rain affected the match and later the hosts emerged as winners via the Duckworth Lewis method.
With the ICC T20 World Cup 2020 being less than a year away, Lewis will certainly have a huge responsibility to give his side good starts regularly in order to retain the title. In the recently concluded T20I and ODI series against India, the batsman looked in good touch and many bowlers around the world must vary him
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 27, 2019 08:15 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).