contacted the player and he expressed his delight for his achievement which has gone onto the record books as one of the country’s best ever showing in a T20 match.

“I am speechless as I am so proud to become the first player for Botswana to score T20 International century, there were several other players who scored century for Botswana in other formats but not in T20 format. I have been ranked 106th in the world among the players who scored T20 century, and it means a lot to get in that list among big players, also so happy to see my country Botswana in that list,” Balakrishnan responded.

The 33 year old was born in Kerala, India, but arrived in Botswana in 2015 to work at Keriotic Investments, where he continued with his passion of playing cricket by playing for Choppies Cricket Club, before eventually representing Botswana in 2018.

“I am the first person from Kerala to score century in T20 internationals as well, that’s another historic moment for me. In this concluded tournament, apart from my century there was another record for Botswana where myself and Nehonde [Reginald] went on to put up 155 runs Partnership for the 2nd wicket which has become the 7th highest partnership in the world,” he stated.

Quizzed on what he intends to achieve going forward, he said, “I want to score more and more runs for Botswana also, it is my wish to make Botswana cricket team qualify for the world cup and to see our flag fly high on that big stage, I wish it will happen soon.”

His captain, Motlhanka sang praises of the batsman and said it was a positive moment following a disappointing tournament.

“Vinoo Balakrishnan’s performance, more especially on the last day against St Helena, was very much a positive, to see a 100 being scored by a Botswana player for the first time in a T20 international cricket was a proud moment for myself and my teammates to witness. He has been with us since 2018 and he’s been in the team batting but this time around we pushed him up the order to open the batting and it’s good to see that it came off in the last game and we can’t be more proud as his teammates,” Karabo responded. Bowler Dhruv Maisuria also put up impressive showing as he scooped bowler of the tournament award after picking 14 wickets for 121 runs with an unmatched bowling figure of 5/30.