South Africa and World’s No 1 T20I bowler Tabraiz Shamsi broke another record. His 3/17 against Sri Lanka propelled him to register most wickets in a calendar year in T20Is. With 32 wickets in 2021, he has now surpassed Uganda’s Dinesh Nakrani.
Tabraiz Shamsi became the World No 1 T20I bowler earlier this year. He has been very consistent and has given away runs at an economy rate of just 5.73, which is considered great for a spinner in the T20s.
In 20 matches, Shamsi has scalped 32 wickets with an average of 13.62. His bowling stats include two four-wicket hauls with the best bowling figures of 4/25. However, Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga is also in the running to become the player with most wickets in a calendar year. He currently has 28 wickets in 2021 from 18 matches.
India’s Jasprit Bumrah with 28 wickets in 2016 from 21 matches became the bowler with most wickets in a calendar year.
As for the match, Put into bat, despite Shamsi’s 3/17, Sri Lanka managed to post a competitive total of 142 on the back of a superb innings from opener Pathum Nissanka. Nissanka slammed 72 off 58 and singlehandedly took the Islanders to a good total. For South Africa, D Pretorious also picked up three wickets while Anrich Nortje returned with two.
Shamsi’s Sri Lankan counterpart Wanindu Hasaranga made significant progress in plugging the gap. Hasaranga chipped in with a sensational hat-trick to keep Sri Lanka in the game, and while that did not yield in a win for his team, he did close in on Shamsi’s tally. Hasaranga has picked up 31 wickets this year, just one less than Shamsi tally this year.
