Captain Sikandar Raza creates T20I history

Zimbabwe T20I captain Sikandar Raza created history in T20I cricket during the home T20I tri-series opener against South Africa, where he scored a fighting half-century in the interesting match.

After South Africa chose to field first, Zimbabwe had a slow start. Captain Sikandar Raza came to bat at no.4 after Clive Madande was dismissed in the eighth over of the innings. Raza fought hard and scored 54 not out off 38 balls with three fours and two sixes, as Zimbabwe managed to score 141/6 in 20 overs. During that fighting innings, he had a 66-run partnership with Ryan Burl for the fourth wicket.

With that knock, the Zimbabwean skipper Sikandar Raza completed his 1000 T20I runs as a captain. With 39 wickets and 1033 runs as a T20I captain, Raza became the first T20I captain among the ICC Full Members and third overall T20I captain to record 1000 runs and 25 wickets. Namibian captain Gerhard Erasmus and PNG captain Assad Vala first two names in this list.

See Also: Major setback for New Zealand ahead of T20I Tri-Nation series

T20I captains with 1000 runs and 25 wickets

Player (Team)	Runs scored	Wicket taken
Gerhard Erasmus (Namibia)	1583	54
Assad Vala (PNG)	1165	32
Sikandar Raza (Zimbabwe)	1033	39

Sikandar Raza set another T20I record

It was also another historic day for the skipper Sikandar Raza, as playing his 39th T20I match as a Zimbabwe captain, he set a new record for most T20I matches as a captain for Zimbabwe. Craig Ervine was the previous record holder in this list with 38 T20I matches, and last captained the Chevrons T20I side in 2023.  

South Africa won comfortably after tough start

In reply, South Africa lost their first three batters in the powerplay, as they were struggling at 38/3 at the end of the powerplay. However, international cricket debutant Rubin Hermann (45) and T20I comeback Dewald Brevis (41) secured a comfortable win for the Proteas, as they chased down the target in 15.5 overs after losing by five wickets.