Divya Prata, Pune
On Wednesday, Malaysian seamer Syazrul Idrus achieved a historic milestone in cricket by becoming the first male cricketer to secure seven wickets in a T20 International. He accomplished this remarkable feat during the first game of the T20 World Cup Asia B Qualifier against China.
Idrus’ bowling performance of 7 wickets for 8 runs, the greatest in a men’s T20I, aided Malaysia to an eight-wicket victory over China at Bayuemas Oval. All seven of his wickets were bowled dismissals.
The 32-year-old, who had previously played in 22 T20Is, beat Nigerian Peter Aho’s previous record for the highest bowling stats in a men’s T20I. In 2021, Aho took 6 wickets for 5 runs against Sierra Leone.
Deepak Chahar of India holds the record for best bowling stats in a T20I, with his 6 wickets for 7 runs against Bangladesh in 2019 being joint-third best overall alongside Dinesh Nakrani of Uganda, who had the same figures against Lesotho in 2021.
With her 7 wickets for 3 runs against France in 2021, Frederique Overdijk of the Netherlands owns the greatest bowling stats — male and female — in a T20I.
Twelve bowlers have previously taken six-wicket hauls in a men’s T20I, including Chahar and another Indian, Yuzvendra Chahal, Australia spinner Ashton Agar, and Sri Lanka tweaker Ajantha Mendis, but a seven-wicket haul had never been recorded until Idrus’ incredible feat.
China batted first and was all out for 23 runs in 11.2 overs, with none of their batters scoring in double figures, with Idrus tearing down the batting order single-handedly. Wei Guo Lei led the way with seven runs. Six Chinese hitters went out for nothing.
Malaysia completed the chase in 4.5 overs, reaching 24 for 2.
The winner of this competition will advance to the Asia Regional Finals in Nepal in November, with the top two teams from that event qualifying for the T20 World Cup in 2024.