Malaysia's Syazrul Idrus became the first male player in cricket history to take seven wickets in a T20I a he ran riot against China in the opening match of the T20 World Cup Asia B Qualifiers. A medium pacer, Idrus swung the ball back into the Chinese batters as they had no answers for his accuracy as all seven wickets were bowled.
China were skittled out for a paltry 23 as Idrus registered the best figures by a male cricketer in T20 internationals surpassing Peter Aho's figures of 6/5 against Sierra Leone in 2021. Idrus may be the first male player, however, he is not the first cricketer overall as two women cricketers have taken 7-wicket hauls in T20Is before.
The Netherlands' Frederique Overdijk was the first-ever player on the planet to take seven wickets in a T20 international match against France women in 2021. Argentina's Alison Stocks replicated the feat with exact same figures as Overdijk (7/3) against Peru Women last year.
7-wicket haul by women's players in T20 internationals
7/3 - Frederique Overdijk (Netherlands) vs France Women, 2021
7/3 - Alison Stocks (Argentina) vs Peru Women, 2022
India's Deepak Chahar is now the joint-third best figures in T20Is with his spell of 6/7 against Bangladesh in 2019 in Nagpur as he is on level with Uganda's Dinesh Nakarni, who also achieved the same figures in 2021 against Lesotho. Sri Lanka's Ajantha Mendis is the only bowler who features in top 10 twice with 6-wicket hauls on both occasions and completed the top 5 with figures of 6/8 against Zimbabwe in 2012.
Best figures in T20I cricket (men's)
7/8 - Syazrul Idrus (Malaysia) vs China, (Kuala Lumpur, 2023)
6/5 - Peter Aho (Nigeria) vs Sierra Leone (Lagos, 2021)
6/7 - Deepak Chahar (India) vs Bangladesh (Nagpur, 2019)
6/7 - Dinesh Nakrani (Uganda) vs Lesotho (Kigali, 2021)
6/8 - Ajantha Mendis (Sri Lanka) vs Zimbabwe (Hambantota, 2012)
6/10 - JJ Smit (Namibia) vs Uganda (Windhoek, 2022)
