Indian engineer creates history with Romanian cricket team in a T20I against Turkey

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Sivakumar Periyalwar is an Indian-origin engineer working in Romania, he is also the first Romanian to score a century in T20I cricket with an unbeaten 105 off just 40 deliveries as Romania beat Turkey in a cup match. The eastern European team beat their guests by 173 runs in the Romania Cup at the Moara Vlasiei Cricket Ground in Ilfov County. Romania also broke the record of the highest margin of victory (by runs) in T20I cricket which was previously held by Sri Lanka.

And the key architect of this colossal victory was batsman Sivakumar Periyalwar, a software engineer, who smacked 105 from 40 deliveries to take his team to a hefty 226 for 6 in 20 overs. In a post-match interview, he was asked about how it felt to become the first T20I centurion for Romania and the player struggled for words,

“I can’t explain because I am an engineer working at a software company here. I used to play on weeekends for Cluj Cricket Club. The last two years we were the champions of the national T20 tournament. Based on my performance I got selected in the national team,” he said.

Born in the town of Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu, Periyalwar was one among millions of youngsters who aspire to play cricket for India. In his words,

“Actually, when I was a child I participated in Under-15, Under-22 and Under-25 tournaments back home. After completion of my graduation I shifted to Romania in 2015. But I still had passion for cricket and wanted to play the game again. I got to know about the cricket matches in Romania and joined the Cluj Cricket Club.”

Turkey on the other hand were bowled out for 53 runs while chasing the improbable 227 and Romanian bowler Cosmin Zavoiu took three wickets for just four runs in a single over.