Zimbabwe opener Brian Bennett entered the record books on Wednesday with a rare batting feat in Harare, even as his team went down to Sri Lanka by four wickets in the opening T20 international of the three-match series.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Bennett, who top-scored with a fluent 81 off 57 balls, became the player with the highest T20I score without hitting a six among full ICC members. His innings, laced with 12 boundaries, was the bedrock of Zimbabwe’s 175-7 at Harare Sports Club. But despite his knock, the hosts could not prevent Sri Lanka from chasing down the target with five balls to spare.The 27-year-old right-hander surpassed the previous record jointly held by Faf du Plessis (79* vs Bangladesh, 2015) and Babar Azam (79 vs New Zealand). Other notable names in the unique list include Mohammad Rizwan (78 vs West Indies) and Ricky Ponting (76 vs India). However, the all-time record across all ICC members remains with Malawi’s Sami Sohail, who scored an unbeaten 94 against Lesotho in 2022 without clearing the ropes.Bennett’s innings was cut short just 10 runs shy of his personal best in T20Is when he attempted a scoop against Dushmantha Chameera, only to see his stumps uprooted by a perfectly executed yorker. Apart from skipper Sikandar Raza’s 28, no other Zimbabwe batter crossed 20, highlighting the lone fight from the opener.For Sri Lanka, Pathum Nissanka continued his dream run with 55 off 32 balls — his 15th T20I half-century — following his dominant performances in the preceding ODI series. A late blitz from Kamindu Mendis (41* off 16 balls) sealed victory for the visitors.Despite Zimbabwe’s loss, Bennett’s name now finds a unique place in the T20I record books, adding a statistical silver lining to an otherwise disappointing night for the hosts.
