Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir has become the third pacer in T20 to bowl the most number of dots ball.
Amir, 24, equaled the record for the most dot balls in a Twenty 20 international match during Pakistan’s nervy win over the United Arab Emirates on Monday.
The quickie bowled a remarkable 21 dot balls on his way to figures of 2-6 as Pakistan held UAE to 129 for 6 wickets in the Asia Cup in Bangladesh.
Hong Kongs’s Aizaz Khan is the only player to have conceded fewer runs off four overs in a T20 international. Aizaz took 2-4 against Nepal in 2014.
Amir conceded his first run of his second ball and then bowled 11 dots before conceding his second. In between those two runs he bowled Muhammad Kaleem during a wicket second over.
He signed off with the wicket of Muhammad Usman, being his final delivery. Usman was the only player to pick up a boundary off Mohammad Amir.
Despite the modest target, victory was far from assured for the Pakistanis, who were teetering at 3 for 16 in the fourth over, after bowler Amjad Javed took three wickets in his first seven deliveries.
An unbeaten 114 run stand between Shoaib Malik and Umar Akmal saw Pakistan home from there, but it was not a chanceless partnership.
The Emiratis wasted a huge opportunity to get themselves back in the contest, with Malik granted a reprieve when Pakistan needed 40 runs off 26 balls. Malik top-edged a bouncer from Mohammad Shahzad only for Usman Mushtaq to give a simple catch to square leg.
Malik then hit a four and a six off the next two balls to bring up his half-century and from there on it was a simple chase for Pakistan, who won with eight balls to spare.
The win lifts Pakistan off the bottom of the Asia Cup ladder after its loss to India, a game where Amir was once again the star of the show. The quickie took three wickets in that match and now sits fifth on the wicket-taking list for the tournament.
The four men ahead of him have all played more matches, and none has a better average than his 4.80 or a more miser economy than his — 3.00 rpo.