4 times a batsman scored at least as many runs as the opposition in a T20I

Twenty20 is the most closely contested of all the formats of Cricket. And why not? It is a game where each team faces a maximum of only 120 balls and thus, has little opportunity to break away and go very far ahead, as is the case in Test Cricket. Teams can grind down the opposition in the longer formats of the game, but in T20, all it takes is one ball to change the balance of the game.

In the 336 T20Is won by the team batting first, as many as 74, or 22%, have been won by a margin of 10 runs or less. In ODIs, this same statistic falls to nearly half- 11.6%. Given how tightly contested and volatile the format is, it takes a supreme effort for just one batsman to single-handedly match the entire opposition.

Here are 4 instances when a batsman actually managed it in T20Is:

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#1 Hamilton Masakadza vs Canada, 2008

Zimbabwe 184/5 (Masakadza 79, Chibhabha 40) beat Canada 75 (Utseya 3/26) by 109 runs

Playing in a quadrangular tournament with Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Canada, Zimbabwe must have known that their only respite would be against the hosts, Canada. However, in the first matchup between the two sides, Canada almost pulled the rug from under the African team's feet by tieing the game.

When the two sides met again in the second leg of the tournament, Masakadza, like the previous game, lost his opening partner for a duck. But, this time he took it upon himself to decimate the Home Team's bowling. A 79 laced with 8 shots to the fence and 3 over it took Zimbabwe to 184/5, before Prosper Utseya and Ray Price spun webs around the Canadian batsman bowling them out for 75- four runs short of Masakadza.

#2 Luke Wright vs Afghanistan, 2012

Luke Wright is the only batsman to finish 99 not out in a T20I

England 196/5 (Wright 99*) beat Afghanistan 80 (Naib 44, Patel 2/6) by 116 runs

England were defending champions at the World T20 in 2012, having won the tournament 2 years before in the West Indies. And they started their campaign with a bang- thrashing Afghanistan by a massive 116-run margin. Luke Wright, who had come in to bat with England 0/1 after 1 over, was without a doubt the star of the show, finishing unbeaten on 99. Needing 3 to complete his century off the last ball of the innings, Wright could only get the ball as far as long on and scampered back for two to become the first, and to date only, batsman to finish 99* in a T20I.

The English bowlers then came back to share the spoils as they routed Afghanistan for a measly 80. Little did they know that their own team would be bowled out for exactly the same score two days later, against India.

#3 Michael Swart vs Nepal, 2015

Netherland's Michael Swart dished out a special knock against Nepal

The Netherlands 172/4 (Swart 76*, Cooper 66) beat Nepal 69 (Rippon 3/11) by 103 runs

Australia-born Michael Swart gave the touring Nepal side a glimpse of top-level International Cricket, carrying his bat through an unbeaten knock of 76 at Amstelveen. Though the game was only against the Netherlands, it must have been an eye-opener for Nepal, who had hardly played any international cricket before. 8 fours and a six laced Swart's 59-ball-knock as he steadily built the innings, while other batsmen around him, played the big shots.

Chasing 173 to win, only 3 Nepali batsmen made it into the double digits, as their side crashed 7 runs short of Swart's individual effort, and a massive 103 runs short of the Netherlands.

#4 KL Rahul vs Ireland, 2018

KL Rahul showed why he should be in the top XI of the Indian side across all formats

India 213/4 (Rahul 70, Raina 69) beat Ireland 70 (Kuldeep 3/16, Chahal 3/21) by 143 runs

Having sat out the first game of the two-match series, KL Rahul showed exactly why he should be playing for India in all formats of the game. Continuing from where he had left in the 11th season of the IPL, KL Rahul took the attack to the Irishmen from the first over itself, lacing 3 fours and 6 sixes, before falling in the 13th over. By then, he had 70 to his name and India had 128. The runs had come at a strike-rate of almost 200 as KL made the most of his good form and toyed with the Irish bowling.

A solid knock from Raina, a blitzkrieg from Hardik Pandya, and the usual dose of magic from the wrist spinners followed as Ireland just about managed to equal KL Rahul's individual score, and in the process, fell to the largest T20I defeat (by runs) for a full member.