Mount Maunganui, Nov 20: Star India batter Suryakumar Yadav continued his imperious form with the bat in the T20Is as he smashed his career's second T20I century in the second Twenty20 International against New Zealand here on Sunday (November 20).

The right-handed batter - who slammed his maiden T20I ton against England earlier this year - once again proved why he's considered one of the most destructive batters in the format. Suryakumar - who walked into the middle at number three after India were put in to bat first by New Zealand - notched up his century off just 49 deliveries.

Imperious knock

The number-one-ranked T20 batter in the world took 33 balls to complete his first fifty and scored the remaining 61 runs off just 18 balls as he went ballistic in the slog overs. The explosive batter from Mumbai remained unbeaten on 111 off 51 balls and helped Team India post a respectable 191/8. His knock was laced with 11 fours and seven sixes as he paced his innings exceedingly well.

Yadav completed his century in the 17th over which was bowled by Lockie Ferguson and Indians milked 17 runs off it. The next over yielded 18 runs and the 33-year-old showcased his 360-degree batting skills.

SKY joins Rohit

With his ton against the Kiwis, Suryakumar joined his fellow Mumbaikar Rohit Sharma to notch up two T20I centuries from an Indian in a calendar year. Rohit achieved this feat in 2018.

With his knock of 111*, Suryakumar - who was the second leading run-getter for Team India in the just concluded T20 World Cup in Australia after Virat Kohli - once again put on a display of sensational stroke play in the death overs and he took both spinners, as well as pacers, on remand and put everyone in awe with his shots. Overall, he was the third-highest run-scorer in the showpiece event.

Speaking about his second T20I century and the way he batted against the BlackCaps, SKY said, "In T20 cricket, a hundred was really special, but it was also important for me to bat till the end. Hardik [Pandya] told me we needed a score of 190-195 and [I am] happy we got there. We had a word in the 16th over that we wanted to take it deep with only [Deepak] Hooda and Washington [Sundar] to follow. I've been doing the same thing in the nets and all practice sessions."

SKY T20I Stats

Suryakumar Yadav's scores since his maiden T20I Century against England in Nottingham: 117,24, 11, 76, 24, 18, 68*, 13, 34, 6, 46, 0, 69, 50*, 61, 8, 15, 51*, 68, 30, 61*, 14, 111*.

Suryakumar Yadav's runs in 2022: 1151* in 30 innings. 2 centuries & 9 half-centuries.

Performance Overseas: In the 2021-22 calendar year, SKY has scored 458* runs at an average of 50.88 and a strike rate of 189.25. Both his centuries have come overseas and he has also slammed 2 fifties.