Although T20 cricket is regarded as Batsmen’s game, but effective bowling from both ends can break the spine of even the most dangerous batting line up in the world. Batters do seem to intimidate bowlers during power plays and death overs but from a bowler’s perspective, it only takes one ball to remove the Batsman.
In this article, Sportzcraazy will discuss the best bowling figures in the history of ICC T20 world cups.
- Ajantha Mendis – Sri Lanka’s former mystery spinner had the greatest bowling statistics in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup’s history with 6/8. In the 2012 T20 World Cup against Zimbabwe, he accomplished the feat. Mendis’ outstanding bowling performance enabled Sri Lanka to successfully defend their 183-run target and win by a commanding 82 runs. The triumph represents the eighth-largest margin of victory (in terms of runs) in the prestigious ICC competition. Ajantha Mendis‘ 6/8 bowling numbers are also the second-best in T20 international cricket, trailing only bowler Deepak Chahar of the Indian cricket team’s 6/7 against Bangladesh in 2019.
- Rangana Herath – Another spinner from Sri Lanka, has the second-best T20 World Cup bowling figure. Herath’s 5 for 3 against New Zealand at Chattogram assisted Sri Lanka in restricting the Kiwis to just 60 while holding them to a pitiful total of 120. The left-arm spinner’s game-winning performance enabled Sri Lanka advance to the T20 World Cup 2014 semifinals, where they defeated India to win the tournament.
- Umar Gul – Umar Gul of Pakistan holds the record for the greatest fast bowling record at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Pakistan bowled out New Zealand for just 99 runs in 2009 at The Oval thanks to the former pacer’s match stats of 5/6 which helped Pakistan win the match easily by 6 wickets. It’s interesting to note that Gul, with 13 wickets, had the most success in that event. He is the only bowler to appear twice (in 2007 and 2009) on the list of players who took the most wickets during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
- Ahsan Malik – Dutch pacer Ahsan Malik has the best bowling statistic by a member of an associate country in the 2014 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup with 5/19 versus South Africa at Chattogram. Malik, who bowled first, kept South Africa at 145 with some important wickets. Despite Malik’s outstanding performance, Netherlands fell six runs short of a historic victory.
- Mujeeb-Ur-Rehman – In the Super 12 match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 against Scotland, Afghanistan’s Mujeeb Ur Rahman recorded his best bowling figure of his career – 5/20 in T20I cricket. Mujeeb’s spell enabled Afghanistan to defeat Scotland by a whopping 130 runs by reducing them to their lowest T20I score of 60.
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