4 bowlers who have taken 4 wickets in 4 balls in T20Is
T20 format is known to be dominated by batters with many odds being in their favour. With an innings comprising of just 120 legal deliveries, batters have the liberty to attack from the outset. Moreover, the boundaries are on the shorter side with tracks being batting-friendly more often than not. Owing to the same, even the best of the bowlers have been taken to cleaners at times.
However, the fact of the matter is that it takes a single delivery to end a batter’s stay in the middle. As batters are constantly looking for runs, bowlers also have a substantial chance of taking wickets. Meanwhile, a bowler gets a hat-trick if he gets three wickets in as many deliveries. T20I cricket has so far seen 27 hat-tricks out of which four were double hat-tricks – four wickets in as many balls.
Let’s look at instances of bowlers taking four wickets in as many deliveries:
1. Rashid Khan vs Ireland in 2019
Arguably the best T20 bowler going around, Rashid Khan became the first bowler to take four wickets in as many balls in T20I matches during a game against Ireland in 2019. Chasing 211 for victory, Ireland were 153/3 in 15.5 overs and were well on command.
However, a Rashid Khan special ruined their party. He dismissed Kevin O’Brien on the last ball of the 16th over before sending George Dockrell, Shane Getkate and Simi Singh in the first three balls of the 18th over. Rashid eventually recorded figures of 5/27 as Ireland won by 32 runs.
2. Lasith Malinga vs New Zealand in 2019
Months before playing his last international game, Lasith Malinga put up a bowling exhibition and took a double hat-trick. It was a 2019 T20I against New Zealand in Pallekele. The Kiwis were 15/0 in a run-chase of 126 and Malinga came on to bowl the third over. While he shattered stumps of Colin Munro on the third Hamish Rutherford, Colin de Grandhomme and Ross Taylor became his victims in the next three balls. Sri Lanka went on to win the game by 37 runs.
3. Curtis Campher vs Netherlands in 2021
Ireland all-rounder Curtis Campher became only the second bowler after Brett Lee to get a hat-trick in a T20 World Cup match. He achieved the feat against the Netherlands in the 2021 edition. The 10th over of Netherlands’ innings saw him dismissing Colin Ackermann, Ryan ten Doeschate, Scott Edwards and Roelof van der Merwe in four successive balls. Ireland went on to win that game by seven wickets.
4. Jason Holder vs England in 2022
West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder is the latest to find a place on this elite list. During the fifth and deciding T20I against England in Barbados, the pacer came out to bowl the final over with the Three Lions needing 20. While the English batters did try to take Holder on, they failed to find the ropes. Chris Jordan, Sam Billings, Adil Rashid, and Saqib Mahmood were Holder’s four victims in as many balls. His heroics meant the hosts clinch the contest by 17 runs.
