On Friday (6th September), Sri Lankan T20I captain Lasith Malinga created some great histories in T20I cricket with the ball. One of those was Malinga became the first bowler in T20I history to claim 100 wickets.
It was the third and final T20I of the series between the hosts Sri Lanka and visitors New Zealand at Pallekele. During the first game of this series, Malinga became the leading wicket-taker in T20I history after breaking Shahid Afridi’s 98 T20I wickets record.
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The latest T20I against New Zealand was Malinga’s 76th T20I where he completed the 100 T20I wickets. Before this game, Malinga was one wicket short from this achievement. After dismissing the New Zealand opener Colin Munro (12), Malinga became the first T20I bowler to take 100 wickets. On the 2.3 overs of New Zealand innings, Malinga bowled Munro and reached the three figures in his T20I wickets column.
First bowlers to achieve 100 wickets in different international cricket formats
| Format | Player (Team) | Date |
| Test | Johnny Briggs (England) | 1st February 1895 |
| ODI | Dennis Lillee (Australia) | 9th June 1983 |
| T20I | Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka) | 6th September 2019 |
Lasith Malinga had the bowling figures of 4-1-6-5, including four straight wickets
At the end of this match, Malinga has managed 104 wickets in 76 T20Is with an average of 19.02. In that same third over of New Zealand innings, Malinga claimed his second T20I hat-trick and this time he managed four wickets in four consecutive deliveries. Apart from dismissing Colin Munro, he dismissed Hamish Rutherford (0) through the lbw, bowled Colin de Grandhomme (0) and also trapped Ross Taylor (0) for lbw. It was his fifth hat-trick in international career – most hat-tricks by any bowler in international cricket history.
Later, in his next over, Malinga also dismissed the other opener Tim Seifert (8). Finally, in that game, Malinga had the bowling figures of 4-1-6-5. It was the best T20I bowling figures as a captain. He broke the previous record of 4-0-17-5 by Charles Perchard (Jersey) against Guernsey at Castel on 1st June 2019.
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After winning the toss, Sri Lanka managed to score 125/8 (20 overs) in the first innings. Malinga’s destructive bowling performance helped Sri Lanka to bundle out New Zealand for just 88 runs. Sri Lanka won this match 37 runs but lost this T20I series by 2-1.