Vizag lad Ricky Bhui smashes 38-ball-100 as Andhra scripts history

Vizag-based Ricky Bhui breathed fire on Friday as Andhra took on Nagaland in a Group ‘A’ clash of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Opting to bat first after winning the toss, Andhra lost an early wicket in the form of Ashwin Hebbar. Ricky Bhui then joined skipper Hanuma Vihari in the middle to take the attack to the opposition.

Bhui looked in sublime form as he took the Nagaland bowlers to the cleaners. Despite losing Vihari, the 22-year-old continued to blaze away and went on to scored 100 in just 38 balls. The Vizag batsman ended up with 5 fours and 10 sixes as he remained not out on 108 in 42 balls to help Andhra post a daunting score of 244 in its quota of 20 overs.

Coming out to chase the target, Nagaland looked all out of sorts as the batsmen formed a queue to the pavilion. Andhra’s KV Sasikanth, SK Ismail and leg-spinner Karn Sharma blew away the opposition and bundled them out for a paltry score of 65 runs in 13.1 overs. By winning the game with a margin of 179 runs, Andhra scripted history to register the biggest win in T20 history. The record was previously held by Sri Lanka, who had pipped Kenya by 172 runs in the inaugural edition of the WT20.

The latest innings by Ricky Bhui comes as a continuation to his brilliant form in the Ranji Trophy 2018-19. It may be recalled that the right-handed batsman had emerged as Andhra’s top scorer in the tournament with 775 runs in 8 matches, at a staggering average of 59.61.