4th T20I: Arshdeep Singh becomes first Indian to complete 150 T20I wickets
Auckland, Oct 30 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) India fast bowler Arshdeep Singh etched his name into the history books as he completed 150 wickets in T20I cricket during the fourth match against New Zealand at Eden Park here on Friday to become the first Indian to achieve the feat.
Arshdeep achieved the milestone when he dismissed New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner in the 19th over of the first innings. He bowled one fuller outside off as the Blackcaps skipper smashed one straight to sweeper cover to fall for just five.
With this, Arshdeep also became only the ninth player overall to get to 150 wickets in the shortest international format. Arshdeep has become the quickest bowler to achieve the feat in terms of days from debut. Having made his T20I debut in November 2022, Arshdeep completed 150 T20I wickets in just 1577 days from his debut, as per Cricbuzz.
The record for the previous fastest player to reach 150 wickets after debut was Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga, who completed his 150 wickets in 2325 days from debut.
The Indian left-arm seamer is also the third-fastest bowler and quickest pacer to complete 150 wickets in terms of balls bowled. Arshdeep achieved the milestone in 2143 balls, only behind Hasaranga (2035 balls) and Rashid Khan (2098). The previous quickest fast bowler to get to the mark was Mustafizur Rahman, who took 150 wickets in 2532 deliveries.
Arshdeep also broke the record for most wickets in a T20I calendar year by players from full-member nations. Santner’s wicket was his 40th of the year, breaking the record of Josh Little, who had 39 scalps in 2022.
Although Arshdeep took 1-38 and Mayank Yadav got 3-48, New Zealand made a record 259/7 in Auckland. Glenn Phillips (107 from 49 balls), arguably the batter of the series so far, smashed his third T20I century, while Michael Bracewell also hit 65 from 25 balls to help New Zealand pile up their highest-ever T20I total and also the highest by any team against India in the format.
This surpassed New Zealand’s previous highest score of 254/5, which they had smashed four years ago against Scotland, and is the most by any team against India, going past the previous 257/3 that England had hit in Southampton earlier this year.
The Indian bowlers had a very tough time in the middle. They were meted out tough treatment, similar to what the Indian batters have generally done against the Kiwis this series.
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