ENG vs NZ | Tim Southee Overtakes Shakib Al Hasan in Major T20I Record
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Southee is leading NZ in T20Is (Twitter)
Tim Southee displaced Shakib Al Hasan from the top of the T20I wicket-taking charts following his fruitless spell against England in Chester-le-Street. The speedster claimed one English wicket, that of opener Jonny Bairstow within the first over of the innings to finish with 1-25 from three overs.
His team New Zealand, however, went down to the hosts by seven wickets to concede the opening lead in the four-match T20I series.
Tim Southee becomes T20I’s most decorated bowler
New Zealand captain Tim Southee took field against England in the first match of their series with 140 wickets to his name. While the pace veteran achieved the same from 110 T20I appearances, Shakib Al Hasan reached his 140 mark from 117 matches.
As it turns out, Southee went past Shakib in his opening over of the match to become new leading wicket-taker across men’s T20I matches.
Top five leading wicket-takers in T20I matches:
| Bowler | T20I matches | Wickets |
|---|---|---|
| Tim Southee | 111 | 141 |
| Shakib Al Hasan | 117 | 140 |
| Rashid Khan | 82 | 130 |
| Ish Sodhi | 99 | 119 |
| Lasith Malinga | 84 | 107 |
The 34-year-old made his T20I debut back in 2008 against England. He has taken his 141 wickets in 111 matches at an average of 23.29, with two five-fers to his name. Remarkably, the cricketer has also claimed 370 Test wickets and 210 ODI wickets in his illustrious journey.
Southee can now extend his record further from Shakib Al Hasan as he is slated to lead his New Zealand troops in the second T20I of the series. The match, set to be played on September 1, will be hosted by Manchester’s Old Trafford.
Meanwhile, Shakib will have some catching up to do with the Kiwi paceman as the all-rounder is currently engaged in the ongoing ODI Asia Cup 2023 in Sri Lanka as Bangladesh captain.
.jpg "Russell Claims 400th T20 wicket!")
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