Malaysia’s Syazrul Idrus creates history, becomes first man to claim seven wickets in T20I

By India Today Sports Desk: During the inaugural match of the T20 World Cup Asia B Qualifier held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s fast bowler Syazrul Idrus etched his name in cricket history. He became the first bowler to bag seven wickets in a T20I, and that too, without a single catch involved. All his victims fell to his inswing deliveries, which knocked down their stumps, implying the immense control and skill Idrus possesses.

This exciting feat surpassed Peter Aho’s previous record of taking six wickets for Nigeria against Sierra Leone in 2021. Among the full members, the record is held by Deepak Chahar of India for his six wickets against Bangladesh in 2019, placed jointly third-best overall with Dinesh Nakrani of Uganda.

China, after electing to bat first, had a decent start with 12 runs without losing any wickets within the initial four overs. However, the tables turned with Idrus stepping in as the first change bowler. His lethal delivery bowled Wang Liuyang, opening his wicket account. He didn’t stop there and claimed three more batsmen during that over and reached his five-wicket haul in his following over.

Idrus crowned his spell with a maiden over, in which he scalped two more batters, ending with an incredible figure of 4-1-7-8. The havoc created by Idrus narrated through the scoreboard displaying 20/9 after nine overs. Shortly after, Luo Shilin of China was trapped in front of the stumps by Vijay Unni, ending their innings with a meager score of 23.

Malaysia too witnessed an early hiccup, losing their opening batters, leaving the team at 3/2 within two overs. However, they soon found their saviour in Virandeep Singh, who stepped up, scoring a quick 19 runs off just 14 balls which included two fours and a six, leading his team to victory within 4.5 overs.