* Levi peppers small boundaries in Hamilton
* Brutal innings levels Twenty20 series
(Adds details, quotes)
Feb 19 (Reuters) – Opening batsman Richard Levi took
advantage of the small boundaries at Seddon Park to blast a
world record 13 sixes and guide South Africa to an eight wicket
win over New Zealand to level their Twenty20 series in Hamilton
on Sunday.
Levi, who only made his debut on Friday in Wellington, also
brought up the fastest international Twenty20 century off 45
balls as he scored 117 not out to help the visitors chase down
New Zealand’s 173 for four with four overs to spare.
New Zealand had won the first match of the series in
Wellington.
The powerfully-built Levi was brutal to a wayward New
Zealand attack who bowled into his arc allowing him to smash the
ball across the ropes from mid-off around to deep backward
square-leg.
“It was good fun. Every shot I played seemed to come off,”
Levi said in a televised interview. “The leg-side boundary on
(one) side of the wicket is fairly short so I was trying to
target it.”
Captain AB de Villiers (39 not out) simply ticked the strike
over to the 24-year-old who wasted little time in bringing up
his century when he pushed the ball into the covers for a rare
single.
West Indies opener Chris Gayle had held the previous record
for sixes in a Twenty20 international with 10, while Gayle and
Brendon McCullum had shared the record for fastest century. Both
had achieved the mark in 50 balls.
Continued…
