Leicestershire Foxes skipper Colin Ackermann created history in T20 cricket on Wednesday as he took seven wickets, conceding 18 runs in four overs, on his way to creating a World record. Foxes defeated Warwickshire by 55 runs on their home ground, easing their chances of making it into the quarter-finals after their dominant win over the Bears.
The South-African all-rounder claimed a new T20 world record by his part-time off-spin bowling as he took the scalps of Michael Burgess, Sam Hain, Will Rhodes, Liam Banks, Alex Thomson, Henry Brookes, and Jeetan Patel as he broke through the batting line-up of the Warwickshire Bears.
Previously the best figures were achieved by Arul Suppiah, who took 6-5 for Somerset against Glamorgan at Cardiff in 2011.
“It has not really sunk in, it is quite an extraordinary thing,” he said. “To take seven wickets is incredible.
“Never in a million years would I have believed I would have the best T20 figures ever.”
“It is the first time it has really turned at Grace Road this year and I tried to use my height to get a bit of extra bounce.”
“If you can turn the ball it is a major weapon in T20 as a spinner. Even if it is only a little it is a weapon.”
“I tried to get the batters to hit into the biggest part of the field into the wind and just mix my pace up a little.”
“It is a great win for us. I thought Harry Swindells played beautifully at the top to set the game up for us and he and Lewis Hill deserve a lot of credit.”
After taking the wicket of the dangerous looking opener Michael Burgess, Ackermann went on to take the next six wickets in just 2 overs to bring down the Bears’ innings from 118-3 to 134-9.
Birmingham Bears skipper Jeetan Patel also went on to hail the off-spinner after the match in the post-match presentation.
“It was a fantastic performance. The little bit of spin that he could get and from the height that he has it become very hard for the batters.”
“But you can’t take away from what a great spell of bowling it was or the performance from Leicestershire.”
“He hit a better length for longer than me and asked the ball to do stuff, whereas my own bowling was a little bit too full and a bit predictable.”
Going by the records in International T20 cricket, no player had taken seven wickets in a Twenty-20 match. However, Sri Lankan “mystery spinner” Ajantha Mendis has two six wickets hauls in T20 cricket with his personal best figures being 6-8 in a match against Zimbabwe in 2012.
