T20 leagues have emerged as one of the most popular cricket formats in recent years. After the birth of the Indian Premier League, almost every nation has introduced its own T20 league. Big Bash League, SA20, Pakistan Super League, Caribbean Premier League, International League T20 and Lanka Premier League are among the top leagues in the world.
Unlike in Test cricket and ODIs, a bowler does not have enough chances to take a five-wicket haul in T20 matches. The reason for this is that a bowler can only bowl a maximum of 24 deliveries in T20 matches, which is why it is very difficult for them to complete a five-wicket haul.
Still, plenty of bowlers have managed to achieve the feat, and here is a list of the first bowlers to take a five-wicket haul in any league.
#1 IPL – Sohail Tanvir
Parthiv Patel lbw for 0Fleming lbw for 0Sivaramakrishnan caught by Warne for 5 Morkel bowled for 42Muralidharan bowled for 0Ntini bowled for 11May 4, 2008Sohail Tanvir took 6/14 as RRs best 14 for RRs 09 SK remained the best figures. https://t.co/DgKKwufzi4
Rajasthan Royals (RR) fast bowler Sohail Tanvir was the first to take five or more wickets in an IPL innings in 2008. The left-arm pacer bowled a magnificent spell of 6/14 in a league stage match against Chennai Super Kings.
Playing at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Tanvir secured the wickets of Parthiv Patel, Stephen Fleming, S Vidyut, Albie Morkel, Muttiah Muralitharan and Makhaya Ntini to complete his six-wicket haul. RR won that match by eight wickets.
#2 SA20 – Roelof van der Merwe
The SA20 kicked off earlier this month, with the inaugural edition of the league currently underway in South Africa. Yesterday evening during a match between SunRisers Eastern Cape (SEC) and Durban’s Super Giants (DSG), Roelof van der Merwe became the first player to take a five-wicket haul in South Africa’s new T20 league.
Playing for SEC, Van der Merwe took a match-winning 6/20 to help Army Orange secure a 124-run win against DSG.
#3 BBL – Lasith Malinga
Former Sri Lanka captain Lasith Malinga registered the first five-wicket haul in Australia’s T20 league, the Big Bash League (BBL). Playing for the Melbourne Stars in the second season of the BBL, Malinga produced a dream spell of 6/7 against the Perth Scorchers.
His victims were Marcus North, Marcus Stoinis, Hilton Cartwright, Tom Triffitt, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Joe Mennie.
#4 PSL – Ravi Bopara
It may surprise some fans, but England all-rounder Ravi Bopara was the first player to take a five-wicket haul in Pakistan’s T20 league, the Pakistan Super League (PSL). Bopara achieved this feat playing for Karachi Kings against Lahore Qalandars in the first season of PSL.
The medium pace bowling all-rounder took the wickets of Chris Gayle, Umar Akmal, Dwayne Bravo, Mohammad Rizwan, Hammad Azam and Naved Yasin in his spell of 16/6.
#5 Lankan Premier League – Mohammad Amir
Pakistan pacer Mohammad Amir took the first five-wicket haul in Sri Lanka’s T20 league, the Lankan Premier League (LPL). During the first LPL season in 2020, Amir bowled a spell of 5/26 for Galle Gladiators against Colombo Kings.
His five victims were Dinesh Chandimal, Daniel Bell-Drummond, Thikshila de Silva, Isuru Udana and Qais Ahmad.
#6 Caribbean Premier League – Shakib Al Hasan
Not many fans will remember that the first two five-wicket hauls in the Caribbean Premier League came in the same game in the league’s inaugural season. Barbados Tridents spinner Shakib Al Hasan returned with figures of 6/6 against Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel.
Later in the same match, Red Steel fast bowler Fidel Edwards took a spell of 5/22, but the record for the first five-wicket haul belongs to Shakib.
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