Namibia Captain Gerhard Erasmus Breaks Record for Most Balls Taken by a Batter to Score 1st Run in T20I

Gerhard Erasmus made history in a T20 World Cup match against Australia, requiring 17 deliveries to score his first run, breaking a 17-year-old milestone.

In the 2007 quadrangular series, Kenya’s Tanmay Mishra made headlines by taking 16 balls to open his scoring against Pakistan.

Now, 17 years on, Erasmus from Namibia has claimed that record, and also being the sole batter from his country to surpass 1000 runs in T20Is.

While Erasmus initially struggled, he emerged as Namibia’s top performer of the day. After the early dismissals of Davin and van Lingen, the right-handed batter calmly absorbed the pressure. Erasmus scored 36 runs from 43 deliveries, including 4 boundaries and a six.

Namibia skipper Gerhard Erasmus took 17 balls to get off the mark against Australia.

– It's the longest any batter has taken to get off the mark in T20i history. pic.twitter.com/j898EcFtcf

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) June 12, 2024