Syazrul Idrus becomes the first man to take a seven-for in T20Is

Malaysia seamer Syazrul Idrus has become the first man to take seven wickets in a T20I, achieving the feat against China in Kuala Lumpur during the opening game of the T20 World Cup Asia B Qualifier. All seven wickets were bowled as Idrus consistently swung the ball into the batters.

Idrus finished with figures of 4-1-8-7, which are also the best in all T20 cricket. The previous record belonged to Colin Ackermann, who picked up 7 for 18 for Leicestershire against Birmingham Bears in the 2019 Vitality Blast.

In T20 internationals, Idrus broke Peter Aho's record. Playing for Nigeria, Aho had picked up 6 for 5 against Sierra Leone in 2021. Among Full Members, India's Deepak Chahar has the record - his 6 for 7 against Bangladesh in 2019 is the joint-third best overall alongside Dinesh Nakrani, who registered the same figures for Uganda against Lesotho in 2021.

After opting to bat on winning the toss, China had moved to 12 for no loss in four overs when Idrus picked up his first wicket. Having been brought in as first change, Idrus struck with the first ball of his second over, bowling Wang Liuyang for 3. He went on to pick up three more wickets in the same over, and completed his five-for in the next.

Idrus' final over, a maiden, yielded two more wickets and left China 20 for 9 at the end of nine overs. A few moments later, Vijay Unni trapped Luo Shilin lbw to wrap up the innings on 23.

In reply, Malaysia lost their openers early as well and were 3 for 2 after two overs. Virandeep Singh, however, scored 19 off just 14 balls, with the help of two fours and a six, to seal the win for his side in 4.5 overs.