Kerala Batsman Mohammed Azharuddeen joined some elite company after his century against Mumbai in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021 clash at Wankhede. The 26-year-old scored an unbeaten 137 off 54 deliveries as he led his team to a second consecutive win in the competition. The wicket-keeper batsman's innings included nine fours and 11 sixes as Kerala chased down a score of 196 runs with ease. Punit Bisht Smashes 51-Ball 146 As Meghalaya Beat Mizoram in One-Sided Affair.

Mohammed Azharuddeen scored a 37-ball century against Mumbai and only Rishabh Pant (32 balls) and Rohit Sharma (35 balls) are the Indians to score quicker hundreds in T20 cricket than the 26-year-old batsman. The Kerala wicket-keeper is now on level terms with the likes of Yusuf Pathan, Scott Styris and Dan Christian to score a ton in 37 deliveries in Twenty20 cricket.

Sensational

With his brilliant ton, Mohammed Azharuddeen also became the first player to score a century for Kerala in Twenty 20 cricket. The previous highest for Kerala was 92 unbeaten scored by Rohan Prem v Delhi in 2013. This is also the second-fastest century in the history of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, only behind Pant’s 32-ball knock against Himachal Pradesh in 2018.

Speaking of the game, Mumbai posted a total of 196 runs on the board after some brilliant knocks by Aditya Tare, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Suryakumar Yadav. However, their bowlers were given very little time to settle as Mohammaed Azharuddeen was aggressive from the start, scoring at over 250+ strike rate, taking Kerala to an eight-wicket win.

With this win, Kerala move to second in Elite Group E and is only behind Delhi on the basis of net run-rate. Meanwhile, Mumbai have lost both of their games and are at the bottom of the table. Haryana are the other team to have won all the games in that group.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 13, 2021 10:41 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).