5 highest scoring T20I matches in recent times

Twenty20 is the shortest format of the gentleman's game to be played at the international level. In 2005, the first ever T20 International match took place between Australia and New Zealand at Eden Park in Auckland and the inaugural world cup called the ICC World Twenty20 was hosted by South Africa in 2007.

When it comes to T20 cricket, batsmen like Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum, Yuvraj Singh, Adam Gilchrist, Virender Sehwag, AB de Villiers, Shahid Afridi have made life tough for the bowlers.

In recent years, the run-fest has been quite a frequent affair in the shortest format as the game has started to favor the batsmen more. With the boundaries getting smaller, pitches getting flatter all around the world, bats getting heavier than ever, free-hit advantage & the field restrictions made the life hell for the bowlers. Due to all these factors, it doesn't come as a surprise that the fans have got to witness run-fests after run-fests in recent times.

That being said, here is the list of highest scoring T20I matches in recent times or since 2016.

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#5 Afghanistan vs Ireland (438 runs)

It was the highest-scoring game between associate nations in T20 cricket

The two associate nations met on 12th March 2017 when Afghanistan hosted Ireland at their Indian home ground of Greater Noida. After getting a solid start backed by Mohammad Shahzad's 72 (43), Afghanistan was on a roll before Ireland bounced back to put them down to 121/5 in the 13th over.

But the Irish didn't realize what was on the menu that day as Mohammad Nabi arrived. Batting at number 7, Nabi took the charge from the word go, smashing a massive 89 (30) that included 6 fours & 9 gigantic sixes. Afghanistan put a giant 233 on the board with 8 wickets down.

In reply, Ireland showed a spirited fight, where early fireworks by their opening pair in Stirling & Thompson flew them to a 100 in only the 8th over. Having lost three wickets by the time, they couldn't hold on & kept on losing regular wickets, finally bundling up for 205 in the last over of their innings.

They showed spark and scrap to get past 200, but in the end, they had conceded just too many on the first place.

Result: Afghanistan beat Ireland by 28 runs

#4 Australia vs Sri Lanka (441 runs)

It was the comeback match for Maxwell in Australian T20 side

On September 6, 2016, Australia went on to score the highest ever team total in T20 international cricket, & that too against the previous record-holders Sri Lanka in their own den.

Batting first on a flat Kandy track, Kangaroos piled up 263/3 in their 20 overs, highly dominated by the big show Glenn Maxwell, who slammed his highest T20 score of 145 (65). He scored 14 fours & 9 sixes in the process.

The island nation never looked settled in the chase, dragging their way to 178/9 (20), thereby losing the one-sided contest by a big margin of 85 runs. It was a night of records, plenty of them broken & new ones set for the future.

Result: Australia beat Sri Lanka by 85 runs

#3 South Africa vs England (459 runs)

Root was adjudged as the man of the match

It is always a thrilling contest when two powerhouses meet in the big stage like World T20. It was WT20 2016 when the Proteas took on the inventors of cricket at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.

With help of the fifties by each of their openers, Quinton de Kock & Hashim Amla, South Africa got to a flying start as they reached 100 in no time. They lost some wickets on their way but Duminy, coming in at 5, scored a fifty and powered his team to 229/4 with the support of David Miller.

It was a tough ask for England but they began the run chase on a positive note. Jason Roy's 16-ball 43 helped them utilize the powerplay as they finished at 89/3. After losing their lineup's top 3 batters, Joe Root unleashed his class to show why he his amongst the fab 4 of the world.

His 83 (44) got them over the line against an attack that had Dale Steyn, Kagiso Rabada & Imran Tahir, and the match turned out to be an absolute run fest.

Result: England beat South Africa by 2 wickets

#2 Australia vs New Zealand (488 runs)

Guptill's hundred came in a losing cause

The battle between arch-rivals New Zealand & Australia is always more than just a cricket match. They leave no opportunity to entertain the crowd, especially if its a T20 match.

A ton by Martin Guptill & 33-ball 76 by Colin Munro powered the Kiwis to 243/6, which should have been more as their middle order failed to extend the exhibition of boundaries & gave their wickets cheaply.

The opening southpaws for Kangaroos, David Warner & D'Arcy Short scored fifties to provide the foundation to the chase. Unlike NZ, their middle-order didn't disappoint as Finch & Maxwell scored quick-fire 30s to successfully get the highest ever run chase in a T20I under their belt.

Result: Australia beat New Zealand by 5 wickets

#1 India vs West Indies (489 runs)

The record of 489 runs in a match was almost broken in the one at #2

One of the most iconic T20I games in recent times was the one played in the United States, India vs Windies, Lauderhill, Florida on 27 August 2016.

Evin Lewis' jaw-dropping batting display, scoring 100 (49), & Johnson Charles' 33-ball 79 helped WI post a massive total of 245/6 on the board, and that included a 32-run over by Stuart Binny.

In the run chase, India got to a mediocre start as they lost Rahane & Kohli cheaply. Rohit, on the other hand, kept the run rate under check. Coming in at number 4, KL Rahul slammed a class apart 46-ball 100, which was the fastest for India across all formats at that time.

After all the action, brilliant death bowling, especially by Dwayne Bravo, restricted the Men in Blue to won the match by 1 run.

Result: Windies beat India by 1 run