The ICC Men's T20 World Cup is the international championship of Twenty20 (T20) cricket. [1] A Twenty20 International (T20I) is an international cricket match between two teams, each having T20I status, as determined by the International Cricket Council (ICC), the sport's world governing body. [2] In a T20I, each team plays a single innings, which is restricted to a maximum of 20 overs. [3] In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") refers to a bowler taking five or more wickets in a single innings. [4] This is regarded by the critics as a notable achievement. [5] As of the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup, the most recent to take place, there have been ten five-wicket hauls taken by ten cricketers. [6]
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The first five-wicket haul in an ICC Men's T20 World Cup match, as well as in any T20I match, was taken by Umar Gul of Pakistan, [7] with bowling figures of five wickets for 6 runs. [8] He achieved the feat on 13 June 2009 while playing against New Zealand at The Oval during the 2009 ICC World Twenty20. [9] The second bowler to take a five-for was Sri Lanka's Ajantha Mendis, who picked up six wickets for 8 runs, recording the best bowling figures in the T20 World Cup to date. [10] [11] He set the record while playing against Zimbabwe, on 18 September 2012 during the 2012 ICC World Twenty20. [12] On 27 March 2014, Ahsan Malik of the Netherlands took five wickets conceding 19 runs against South Africa during the 2014 ICC World Twenty20. [13] With this, he became the first player from an associate nation to claim a five-wicket haul in a T20 World Cup match. [14] [15] Rangana Herath's five-for against New Zealand on 31 March 2014 is the most economical five-wicket haul in the T20 World Cup. [16] He picked up five wickets conceding just 3 runs, at an economy rate of 0.85. [17] He averaged 0.60 in that match, which is also the best average for a five-for in the T20 World Cup. [18] [19] On 26 March 2016, at the age of 20, Mustafizur Rahman picked up five wickets for 22 runs against New Zealand during the 2016 edition, [20] becoming the youngest player to claim a five-wicket haul in the championship. [21] Mujeeb Ur Rahman of Afghanistan was the first player to claim a five-wicket haul on his T20 World Cup debut, [22] which he achieved while playing against Scotland on 25 October 2021, during the 2021 edition. [23]
The 2007 and 2010 editions were the only tournaments where no five-wicket hauls were taken. Every other season except 2009 and 2022 saw two five-wicket hauls. [24] There have been three instances when players from Sri Lanka have taken a five-for in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, the most for any team in the competition. [25]
