India vs South Africa 2018: MS Dhoni breaks T20 world record

New Delhi: While the focus was on Shikhar Dhawan and Bhuvneshwar Kumarwho fashioned India’s 28-run win over South Africa in the first T20I on February 18, MS Dhoni quietly broke a world record. After he took a catch to dismiss Reeza Hendricks off Bhuvneshwar, Dhoni created a new wicketkeeping record of having taken 134 catches in 275 T20s.
The previous record was held by Sri Lanka great Kumar Sangakkara who has 133 catches in 254 T20s.
With 77 dismissals, Dhoni also holds the record for most dismissals in T20Is – 48 catches and 29 stumpings. The 48 catches the 36-year-old has taken in 87 T20Is is also a world record.
Overall, Dhoni has 204 dismissals in T20s – the second most in the format behind Pakistan’s Kamran Akmal who leads the charts with 207 dismissals in 203 innings.
Dhawan struck a blistering 39-ball 72 before Bhuvneshwar became the second Indian bowler to claim a five-for in T20Is to give India a winning start in the three-match series. Chasing 204, South Africa were restricted to 175/9 with the visitors taking a 1-0 lead.
The second match of the series is scheduled for February 21 to be played at SuperSport Park, Centurion while the final T20I will be hosted by Cape Town on February 24. Both the matches will start at 9:30 pm (IST).
India have had a fairly successful tour of South Africa despite losing the Test series 1-2. They thrashed the Proteas in the six-match ODI series 5-1 for their first ever bilateral series win in the format on their soil.

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