Best Bowling Figures In T20 History

Aakash Saini∙ Updated: Jan 2 2025, 9:00 PM

Best bowling figures in T20 history [Source: @AkshayTadvi28/x]Best bowling figures in T20 history [Source: @AkshayTadvi28/x]

T20 cricket matches, often regarded as a batter’s paradise, are frequently shaped by the ingenuity and precision of bowlers. Celebrating the storied history of bowlers and their contribution to the success of the game’s truncated format, here we take a look at five of the best bowling figures ever recorded in T20 cricket.

Best Bowling Figures In A T20 Innings:

5. 6/5 - Arul Suppiah vs Glamorgan, 2011

Malaysia born English cricketer Arul Suppiah picked up the first and only five-fer of his T20 career through the course of his record spell against Glamorgan in a 2011 Friends Life T20 game. Turning up for Somerset at Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens, the left-arm spinner picked up six Glamorgan wickets at an expense of just five runs from his four overs.

His spell ensured that Glamorgan crashed from 72-3 at one stage to 98 all out to lose their final seven wickets for just 26 runs. As it turned out, Somerset chased down their target with relative ease, and Arul Suppiah was fittingly adjudged the ‘Player of the Match’ for his astonishing spell.

4. 6/3 - Harsha Bharadwaj vs Mongolia, 2024

Singapore’s teenage spin sensation Harsha Bharadwaj engulfed the entirety of Mongolia’s batting line-up for just 10 in an ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier A match from September 2024. Opening the bowling for his team at the YSD-UKM Cricket Oval in Bangi, the 17-year-old picked up two wickets within the first four balls of the match, and only went from strength-to-strength further in the game to snare historical bowling figures of 6-3 from four overs.

Conceding two maidens in the process, Harsha Bharadwaj’s six-wicket haul for just three runs also remains the second-best bowling figures in a T20 international game.

3. 7/19 - Taskin Ahmed vs Dhaka Capitals, 2025

Senior Bangladesh fast bowler Taskin Ahmed recorded the best figures in the decade-long history of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) on January 2 during the 2024-25 edition of the tournament. Sharing the new ball with Jishan Alam at the iconic Sher-e Bangla National Stadium, Taskin smothered Dhaka Capitals’ top-order with the early wickets of both openers, before snaring five additional victims in the slog overs.

Overall, the Bangladeshi T20 veteran picked up seven wickets in the innings at an expense of 19 runs in his four overs to record BPL’s best bowling figures, as well as the third best in overall T20 cricket.

2. 7/18 - Colin Ackermann vs Birmingham Bears, 2019

Batting all-rounder Colin Ackermann showed off his wares with the ball during a 2019 Vitality Blast North Group game at the Grace Road in Leicester. Defending 190 runs for a win, the Leicestershire captain employed himself as the first bowling change of the run-chase and made instant impact by removing Birmingham Bears opener Michael Burgess.

The right-arm off-spinner also took the wheels out of Bears’ comfortable run-chase pursuit by triggering a batting collapse for the ages. Picking up five wickets in the space of just 12 balls, Ackermann’s burst reduced the Bears from 118-3 to 134 all out, with the spinner himself finishing with figures of 7-18, the best ever in Vitality T20 Blast history.

1. 7/8 - Syazrul Idrus vs China, 2023

Malaysia fast bowler Syazrul Idrus scripted history by becoming the first cricketer in T20 internationals to pick up seven wickets in an innings, doing so against China at Kuala Lumpur during an ICC Men's T20 World Cup Asia B Qualifier in July 2023. Remarkably, the speedster clean-bowled each of his seven victims, and conceded just eight runs and a maiden in his four overs.

Idrus removed five of China batters for ducks, as the visitors were shot out for just 23 in 11.2 overs. In response, Malaysia consumed 4.5 overs to steer themselves to an easy eight-wicket win.