The highest scores in international T20 cricket history

T20 cricket has always been recognised as the most entertaining form of the game, simply because it is when the biggest hitters take centre stage. With the ICC T20 World Cup taking place later this year, we take a look at some of the highest ever scores in international T20 history.

New Zealand vs ENGLAND – 241/3 (2019)

In November 2019, England were 2-1 down in the series against New Zealand but a masterclass from Dawid Malan and Eoin Morgan saw England post their highest ever T20 score of 241/3 in Napier.

Malan and Morgan took flight in the second half of the innings with the pair smashing an unbelievable 151 runs in the last 10 overs, a feat only bettered by Afghanistan earlier on in the year. Record after record was being toppled with the first coming from Morgan, who hit 50 in 21 balls, the quickest international T20 half-century ever by an English player.

Around an hour later, Malan smashed the record for the fastest international T20 century by an English player. Malan incredibly hit 100 not out in 48 balls, surpassing Alex Hales’ 100 off 60 balls in 2016.

England went on to win by 76 runs.

SRI LANKA vs Kenya – 260/6 (2007)

Sri Lanka wiped the floor clean with Kenya as they broke the record for the highest score (at the time) in an international T20 fixture.

Unlike most T20 games, this was a huge team batting performance. Sri Lanka’s 260 was made up of different players with Sanath Jayasuriya (88), Mahela Jayawardene (65), Jehan Mubarak (46) and Kumar Sangakkara (30) the standout performers as their side went on to score 260 after 20 overs. Sri Lanka set the record for the highest number of runs scored in an international T20 fixture leaving Kenya with a mammoth task to overcome.

Kenya were bowled out for a minuscule 88, 172 runs short of Sri Lanka’s score, meaning that this became the biggest winning margin in a T20 international.

Sri Lanka vs AUSTRALIA – 263/3 (2016)

In 2016, history was made in Kandy as Australia hit the highest ever T20 international score (to be beaten in 2019) of 263/3 against Sri Lanka.

Australia’s innings started off slowly but suddenly the game came to life. Glenn Maxwell, who was making his maiden opening innings for Australia, hit a remarkable 145 not out in 65 deliveries. Maxwell became the first Australian player to hit a century in his maiden innings of an international T20 fixture. With the help of David Warner, Travis Head and Usman Khawaja, Australia surpassed Sri Lanka’s international T20 record of 260/6 vs Kenya in 2007 and set their very own world record.

Australia went on to win by 85 runs, meaning that it became Sri Lanka’s biggest international T20 run defeat in their history.

AFGHANISTAN vs Ireland – 278/3 (2019)

Afghanistan set the current international T20 record for the highest number of runs scored against Ireland in Dehradun in 2019.

Afghanistan went on the march right from the beginning with openers Hazratullah Zazai and Usman Ghani reaching 236, meaning that they had now broken the world record for the highest opening partnership in an international T20 fixture.

Zazai smashed record after record during his innings, hitting the second highest international T20 score of 162 not out. He also hit the third fastest T20 international century with it coming in only 42 balls. By the end of his innings, he had hit 16 sixes, which is the greatest number of sixes hit in an international T20 fixture.

Afghanistan ended the innings scoring 278, 15 runs more than Australia’s previous record of 263, while they defeated Ireland by 84 runs.

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