LAHORE: Discard Pakistan wicket-keeper batsman Kamran Akmal has become the first Pakistani batsman to score four consecutive 50s in T20s. The 35-year-old batsman smashed three sixes and four boundaries to score 52 off 40 deliveries, his 4th half-century in four consecutive innings of the national T20 tournament. The right-hand batsman achieved this feat in the ongoing National T20 Cup by scoring 63, 65, 52 and 52 runs in four successive games. Zimbabwe’s Hamilton Masakadza and India’s Virender Sehwag share the record of scoring most T20 consecutive fifties, which is five. Furthermore, Australia’s Usman Khawaja, Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza and UAE’s Shaiman Anwar have also registered four successive T20 fifties. Kamran, representing Lahore Whites, had earlier scored 65 against Rawalpindi, 63 against FATA and 52 against Karachi Whites. The knock on Tuesday made him the first Pakistani cricketer to score four consecutive fifties in four consecutive innings, jointly the second largest streak of consecutive T20 50s. Kamran joined 15 other batsmen from around the world who have scored four consecutive 50s, and is just one short of the record of five consecutive fifties, jointly held by Sehwag and Masakadza. While India’s Virat Kohli has achieved the feat of four consecutive T20 fifties twice in his career, other batsmen joined by Kamran Akmal are M Rawat, Shaiman Anwar, Usman Khawaja, Martin Guptil, Kevin Pietersen, M Klinger, HE van der Dussen, A Rahane, C Kieswetter, Sikandar Raza, Chris Gayle, M Trescothick, JL Denly and LA Carseldine. Kamran last played for Pakistan during the tour to West Indies earlier this year, after making a comeback to the side, however, he couldn’t impress the selectors with his comeback and was not retained for the Champions Trophy. He has played 53 Tests, 157 ODIs and 58 T20s for Pakistan since making his international debut in 2002.
