Pakistan’s flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi, who was also seen to captain Sylhet Superstars in Sunday’s match against Barisal Bulls in the third season of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), has clutched a great bowling record to his name.
Afridi, the Pakistan T20 captain who holds the record of taking most number of wicket in the instant format of the game in international level, returned figures of 2 for 5 with a maiden today in his four probing overs. His final bowling figures read : 4-1-5-2. In the process, he has become the most economical bowler in the history of the BPL.
The record was previously held by Kiwi all-rounder Jacob Oram, who conceded just 7 runs in his allotted 4 overs while playing a match for Dhaka Gladiators against Chittagong Kings in the second season of the glamour-filled shortest-over domestic cricket competition.
However, the most economical bowling figure in T20 cricket overall is owned by Sri Lanka’s Chanaka Welegdara and South Africa’s Chris Morris. Both of them conceded only 2 runs in their 4 overs.
Chanaka Welegedara equalled Chris Morris’s record of the most economical figures in T20 cricket after bowling the full quota of four overs in April this year. Playing for Tamil Union against Sinhalese Sports Club in Sri Lanka Cricket’s T20 tournament at the Colombo Cricket Club, Welegedara returned figures of 4-2-2-4.
While Morris too had conceded only two runs in his four overs for Highveld Lions against Cape Cobras in South Africa’s Ram Slam T20 Challenge, he had bowled one extra maiden over but taken two wickets less to finish with a final analysis of 4-3-2-2.
Before Welegedara joined Morris in the record books, the honours for the most economical figures in T20 cricket after bowling the full quota of four overs was shared by Zulfiqar Babar (2 for 3 for Tigers against Quetta Bears in Lahore in December 2012), Shoaib Malik (1 for 3 for Barbados Tridents against Antigua Hawksbills in North Sound in August 2013) and Sunil Narine (0 for 3 for Guyana Amazon Warriors against Antigua Hawksbills in St George’s in July 2014).