T20 is a fast-paced game. A batter always tries to find boundaries right from the beginning. The aggressive mindset of the batter means that the team often ends up with piles of runs. A batter relishes his knock if his team prevails in the match. But there have been many instances in T20I cricket when a player’s fighting knock went in vain as his team eventually lost the match. Let us have a peek at the Top 10 Highest Individual T20I Scores in Losing Cause-
1. Shane Watson (124*)
Australia’s Shane Watson was on the full attacking mode in the 3rd T20I against India in 2016 at Sydney. Batting first, opening batter Watson tore the Indian bowling attack apart with his 71-ball-124* run knock. He hit 10 fours and 6 sixes en route to his 124-run inning. Australia posted 197/5. But India chased down the target off the last delivery of the match as Watson’s blitzkrieg went in vain.
2. Babar Hayat (122)
Babar Hayat produced one of the best T20I knocks under pressure against Oman in 2016. In this 2016 Asia Cup match at Fatullah, Oman batted first to post 180/5. Babar Hayat, who came at Number 3, single-handedly kept Hong Kong in the hunt as the other batters failed to produce a significant knock. Hayat scored a 60-ball-122 before getting out. Despite his pyrotechnics, Hong Kong lost the match by 6 runs.
3. Faf Du Plessis (119)
West Indies landed in Johannesburg to play a T20I against South Africa in 2015. Batting first, the hosts scored a whopping 231/7. Skipper Faf du Plessis proved his worth in the T20 circuit with a quickfire 56-ball-119 (11 fours, 5 sixes). But such was his bad luck that West Indies chased down the target in 19.2 overs and won the match by 4 wickets.
4. Chris Gayle (117)
It was the opening match of the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 between West Indies and the hosts South Africa. West Indies batted first and posted 205/6. Opener Chris Gayle scored 117 off 57 deliveries to boost the team score. This is the 2nd-highest individual score in the T20 World Cup history. But South Africa chased down the target with 14 balls to spare and 8 wickets intact.
5. KL Rahul (110*)
India was playing it’s first-ever series in the United States of America in 2016. In the 1st T20I at Lauderhill, West Indies posted a very strong 245/6 after batting first. In reply, India came out all guns blazing. KL Rahul was the pick of the batters as he scored 51-ball-110 using 12 fours and 5 sixes. In the end, India fell short by a solitary run in this high-scoring contest.
6. Rohit Sharma (106)
This was the first time India lost a T20I match after a player scored a century. Rohit Sharma was the man in the picture. In the 1st T20I against South Africa in 2015 at the picturesque HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala, India batted first. Sharma produced a knock of 106 in 66 balls. But his efforts went in vain as the visitors chased down the target with 7 wickets to spare.
7. Martin Guptill (105)
This was the 2nd-highest scoring T20I match ever. As many as 488 runs were scored across both innings. Martin Guptill’s 54-ball-105 knock came in the first inning. His knock propelled New Zealand to 243/6, its second-highest T20I total. But Australia was too good not to chase this down. In this match at Auckland, the visitors Australia eventually prevailed by 5 wickets.
8. Leslie Dunbar (104*)
Serbia was playing against Bulgaria in the Hellenic Premier League in 2019 at Corfu. Serbian wicketkeeper batter Leslie Dunbar scored an unbeaten 104-run knock. Interestingly, he scored two-thirds of his team’s runs. The Bulgarian team eventually chased down the modest target in 18 overs.
9. Liam Livingstone (103)
Liam Livingstone showed his class when England hosted Pakistan at Nottingham in July 2021. Pakistan batted first to post 232/6 in 20 overs. In reply, England could manage only 201 despite Livingstone’s aggressive 43-ball-103 run knock. This was the highest individual score by a Number 5 English batter in T20I cricket.
10. Mohammad Hafeez (99*)
Pakistan had come to Hamilton to play a T20I against the hosts New Zealand in 2020. Pakistan’s decision to bat first didn’t quite go in their favour as its batters crumbled under Tim Southee’s bowling. Senior player Mohammad Hafeez was the lone fighter for Pakistan as he scored an unbeaten 99 in 57 balls. New Zealand ended up winning the match by 9 wickets.
