Every bowler out there dreams of taking as many wickets as he can but in T20 Cricket and just 4 overs at a bowler’s disposal, only a few can grab a 5-wicket haul. They innovate and put in their best efforts to outclass the batsmen with their magical performances, so let’s take you through some of the most magical bowling performances in T20 World Cup history:
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At #5, we have New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner who’s bowling spell helped the Kiwis defend a target of just 127 runs vs India. New Zealand captain Kane Williamson picked three spinners on the night who picked up a total of nine wickets and had India all out for just 79 runs. Out of all the spinners, Santner stood out as he gave away just eleven runs and picked up the crucial scalps of Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, and Hardik Pandya, which also earned him the Man of the Match award.
Since 2000 in ICC events !
Shahid Afridi has 82 wickets – Most by a Pakistani player
Shahid Afridi has (7) 4wkts haul – Most by a Pakistani player
Shahid Afridi has 8 MOTM awards – Most by a Pakistani player 🏆🏆 { Pakistan’s Pride }#BoomBoom #Legend #GameChanger pic.twitter.com/Oxcw9HtAwf
— Usman Satti (@usmansatti476) October 11, 2021
Next up, we have Pakistan’s evergreen Shahid Afridi who ran through the batting lineup of the Netherlands with an incredible spell of 4 wickets for just 11 runs. His quick leg-break deliveries were too dangerous on the night at Lords and there was absolutely nothing the Dutch could do about it as Pakistan bundled out the Netherlands for 93 runs. His deadly bowling spell helped him become the highest wicket-taker in the T20 WC (39).
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Lasith Malinga is one of THE most dangerous fast bowlers we have seen in the world of cricket. In 2012, Malinga broke the back of the England top order with his incredible yorkers. In the first over of the match, the Sri Lankan pacer picked up three wickets – Luke Wright, Jonny Bairstow, and Alex Hales. In his following overs, he added more wickets to his tally – Samit Patel and Ravi Bopara while conceding thirty-one runs in his four overs. He has gone on to become one of the legends of the game but this performance was one of his finest in the shortest format of International cricket.
Ahsan Malik starred with figures of 4 for 37 against Papua New Guinea as Netherlands… http://t.co/ZnuZSch3au pic.twitter.com/IEtcmEY2tx
— CricIndex (@CricIndex) June 22, 2015
A surprising name in the list is Ahsan Malik of the Netherlands who’s bowling spell of 5/19 almost gave the Dutch a win over South Africa in the group stages of the 2014 T20 World Cup. His five-wicket haul included wickets of players such as Graeme Smith, Albie Morkel, David Miller, Dale Steyn, and Beuran Hendricks.
He holds the record for the top two T20I bowling figures – 6/8 and 6/16! Happy Birthday to Ajantha Mendis! pic.twitter.com/0iNBLtZrT5
— ICC (@ICC) March 11, 2017
One of the best bowling figures in T20 international cricket came from Sri Lankan mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis who picked up a total of six wickets while giving away just eight runs against Zimbabwe. In that match, Sri Lanka set a target of 183 runs and Zimbabwe had a decent start until Ajantha Mendis grabbed the ball. He took out 4 of Zimbabwe’s in-form batsmen and then added 2 more to his kitty as Zimbabwe were bundled out for 100 runs. Mendis also held the record for the top two T20I bowling figures with an astonishing 6/8 and 6/16.
[Featured Image Credit: ICC]
Shashank Iyer