On this day in 2019: Malinga became first bowler to register 100 wickets in Men's T20I cricket
Sep 06, 2020
New Delhi [India], September 6 : It was on September 6, 2019, when Lasith Malinga became the first bowler to take 100 wickets in Men's T20 international matches.
He achieved the feat against New Zealand in the third T20I of the three-match series.
In the same match, Malinga also became the first bowler to scalp four wickets on four consecutive deliveries in T20I cricket.
He had earlier achieved this feat in ODI cricket in the 2007 World Cup as he took four wickets on four consecutive balls against South Africa.
In the match against New Zealand, Malinga in the third over of the Kiwi's innings took four consecutive wickets as he sent back Colin Munro, Hamish Rutherford, Colin de Grandhomme, and Ross Taylor respectively.
With this, Malinga also became the first bowler to take five hat-tricks in international cricket. He has three in ODIs and two in T20Is.
In the match against New Zealand, Sri Lanka was defending a below-par score of 125, but with Malinga's efforts, the hosts managed to bundle out New Zealand for 88, winning the match by 37 runs.
Malinga took five wickets in his spell of four overs and conceded just six runs.
The Sri Lanka pacer has a total of 107 wickets in T20 internationals, and he is followed by Shahid Afridi who has 98 wickets to his credit.
Malinga would have been in action for the Mumbai Indians in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020, but the pacer pulled out of the tournament due to personal reasons.
