New Zealand opening batsman Martin Guptill has become the highest run-getter in the Twenty20 format with 2188 runs. The 31-year-old slammed his second century in cricket’s shortest format to surpass fellow countryman Brendon McCullum’s T20 record of most runs (2140 runs) till it was broken on February 16. Guptil achieved the feat playing Australia in the fifth T20I match of Trans-Tasman Tri-Series at the Eden Park, Auckland. While Martin Guptill has zoomed past Baz, former international cricketer to become the highest run-scorer, he is closely followed by Indian skipper Virat Kohli. The Team India captain with 1956 runs is third on the list of most runs in Twenty20 International matches.

Kiwi cricketer showed his batting prowess once again when he walked in to bat against Aussies. He smashed 105 runs off 54 balls taking New Zealand total to 243 for six. His fiery innings was peppered with six fours and nine giant sixes. Seeing him swat deliveries out of the park would surely make the Indian Premier League franchises rue their short-sightedness to ignore a player of Guptill’s calibre in the recently held players’ auction for the upcoming edition of the domestic Twenty20 tournament. Martin Guptill Becomes Highest Run-Scorer in T20Is with Hundred Against Australia in Trans-Tasman Tri-Series.

With his latest hundred, Guptil now joins the players with two or more centuries. They are Colin Munro (3), Chris Gayle (2), Brendon McCullum (2), Evin Lewis (2) and Rohit Sharma (2). Guptill also has 13 fifties against his name. The Black Caps team player faces a serious threat from Virat Kohli who is behind him by just 232 runs. With the kind of form Indian captain is in recent times, cricket fans back in India are expecting him to break Guptill’s record in the coming three-match T20Is series. Also, Kohli is yet to hit a century in the cricket’s shortest format. He has 18 half-centuries with a highest individual score of unbeaten 90.

List of Most Runs in Twenty20 Matches

Sr. No. Name Country Matches Runs Highest 100/50
1. Martin Guptill New Zealand 73 2188 105 2/13
2. Brendon McCullum New Zealand 71 2140 123 2/13
3. Virat Kohli India 55 1956 90* 0/18
4. Tillakaratne Dilshan Sri Lanka 80 1889 104* 1/13
5. Shoaib Malik Pakistan 92 1821 75 0/6
6. Mohammad Shahzad Pakistan 60 1816 118* 1/12
7. David Warner Australia 69 1767 90* 0/13
8. JP Duminy South Africa 73 1700 96* 0/9
9. Umar Akmal Pakistan 82 1690 94 0/8
10. AB de Villiers South Africa 78 1672 79* 0/10

After taking a looking at the list of top-10 players with most runs in twenty20 internationals, you can see there are as many as three Pakistani cricketers in it -  Shoaib Malik at five, Mohammad Shahzad at sixth and Umar Akmal. Apart from Virat Kohli, there are no Indian players on the list. The second highest run-getter from the country is Rohit Sharma placed at the 12th position.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 16, 2018 03:42 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).