Indian fast bowler Deepak Chahar produced a record-breaking performance on November 10, as he returned outstanding figures of 6/7, including a hat-trick, to star in his team’s series-clinching 30-run win over Bangladesh at Nagpur. These are now the best ever bowling figures in men’s T20I history, and provided the 41st instance of a bowler taking a five-wicket haul in the format. On that note, here is a look at a few interesting facts and figures on fifers in men’s T20I cricket.

Country-wise breakdown

As of November 17, 2019, a total of 37 bowlers have taken 42 five-wicket hauls in men’s T20Is. Sri Lanka top the list with five five-wicket hauls, followed by Afghanistan, India and South Africa (four each). Bangladesh and Pakistan have had three instances each; Papua New Guinea, Scotland, Vanuatu and the West Indies two each; and Argentina, Australia, Bermuda, Jersey, Kenya, Luxembourg, the Maldives, Namibia, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Oman one each.

The first five-wicket haul

Pakistan’s Umar Gul was the first man to take a five-wicket haul in a T20I. The seamer achieved figures of 5/6 in three overs against New Zealand at The Oval in 2009, in what was a Super Eight match of the second edition of the World T20. Gul’s burst ensured that New Zealand were bowled out for just 99, before Pakistan, who went on to win the title, prevailed by six wickets.

Six-wicket hauls

There have been four instances of a bowler converting his fifer into a six-wicket haul, with Chahar’s record display being the latest. The first two six-wicket hauls were both recorded by Sri Lankan off-spinner Ajantha Mendis, who took 6/16 against Australia at Pallekele in 2011 and bettered it with 6/8 against Zimbabwe at Hambantota in 2012-13. The third bowler to take a six-for was Indian leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (6/25 against England at Bangalore in 2016-17).

Bowlers with more than one five-wicket haul

Five bowlers have taken two T20I fifers: Sri Lanka’s Ajantha Mendis (6/16 v Australia in 2011 and 6/8 v Zimbabwe in 2012-13) and Lasith Malinga (5/31 v England in 2012-13 and 5/6 v New Zealand in 2019), Pakistan’s Umar Gul (5/6 v New Zealand in 2009 and 5/6 v South Africa in 2012-13), South Africa’s Imran Tahir (5/24 v New Zealand in 2016-17 and 5/23 v Zimbabwe in 2018-19) and Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan (5/3 in 2016-17 and 5/27 in 2018-19, both v Ireland).

The quickest five-wicket hauls

The following bowlers completed their five-wicket hauls in three overs or less (overs taken shown in brackets):

5/3 (2) by Rashid Khan (Afghanistan) v Ireland, Greater Noida, 2016-17
5/6 (2.2) by Umar Gul (Pakistan) v South Africa, Centurion, 2012-13
5/18 (2.2) by Allan Douglas (Bermuda) v Cayman Islands, Sandys Parish, 2019
5/6 (2.3) by Ankush Nanda (Luxembourg) v Turkey, Ilfov County, 2019
5/6 (3) by Umar Gul (Pakistan) v New Zealand, The Oval, 2009

Five-wicket hauls on debut

Two bowlers have so far had the distinction of taking a five-wicket haul on T20I debut. The first to do so was Bangladeshi left-arm spinner Elias Sunny, who took 5/13 in his first T20I against Ireland at Belfast in 2012. Sunny’s debut figures stood as the record until September 2019, when pacer Ankush Nanda captured 5/6 for Luxembourg against Turkey at Ilfov County in Romania.

Five-wicket hauls in a losing cause

The following seven out of the 41 five-wicket hauls have been in a losing cause:

5/26 by Darren Sammy (West Indies) v Zimbabwe, Port of Spain, 2009-10
5/19 by Ahsan Malik (Netherlands) v South Africa, Chittagong, 2013-14
5/24 by Alasdair Evans (Scotland) v Netherlands, Edinburgh, 2015
5/22 by Mustafizur Rahman (Bangladesh) v New Zealand, Kolkata, 2015-16
5/24 by Ibrahim Hassan (Maldives) v Bahrain, Muscat, 2018-19
5/19 by Nalin Nipiko (Vanuatu) v Papua New Guinea, Apia, 2019
5/36 by Joshua Rasu (Vanuatu) v Papua New Guinea, Apia, 2019

Five-wicket hauls in both innings

The second match of the Pacific Games Cricket Competition – played in the Samoan capital of Apia – in July 2019 featured the unique occurrence of a five-wicket haul from either side. Papua New Guinea’s Damien Ravu returned figures of 5/15 to help bowl Vanuatu out for 77, to which Vanuatu’s Nalin Nipiko replied with a haul of 5/19. Nipiko’s effort went in vain though, as Papua New Guinea eventually edged home by three wickets.

Five-wicket hauls by captains

There have been three instances of a T20I five-wicket haul by a captain, with all of them taking place in the last 12 months. Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan was the first to do so, with figures of 5/20 against the West Indies at Dhaka in 2018-19. Jersey’s Charles Perchard took 5/17 against Guernsey at Castel in June 2019, three months before Malinga joined the list with his remarkable 5/6 against New Zealand at Colombo.

Five-wicket hauls at the World T20

As aforesaid, Umar Gul’s 5/6 against New Zealand in 2009 was the first instance of a five-wicket haul at the World T20 (now called the T20 World Cup). Since then, there have been six other instances at the tournament. The complete list is as follows:

5/6 by Umar Gul (Pakistan) v New Zealand, The Oval, 2009
6/8 by Ajantha Mendis (Sri Lanka) v Zimbabwe, Hambantota, 2012-13
5/31 by Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka) v England, Pallekele, 2012-13
5/19 by Ahsan Malik (Netherlands) v South Africa, Chittagong, 2013-14
5/3 by Rangana Herath (Sri lanka) v New Zealand, Chittagong, 2013-14
5/27 by James Faulkner (Australia) v Pakistan, Mohali, 2015-16
5/22 by Mustafizur Rahman (Bangladesh) v New Zealand, Kolkata, 2015-16

Five-wicket hauls by bowlers from Associate teams

As many as 17 out of the 41 five-wicket hauls have been recorded by bowlers from Associate teams. Of these 17 instances, 11 have been witnessed in 2019 itself, thanks to the decision of the ICC to expand T20I status to all member nations, which came into effect from January 2019 for men’s T20Is. Following are the five-wicket hauls in T20Is by bowlers from Associate nations:

5/20 by Nehemiah Odhiambo (Kenya) v Scotland, Nairobi, 2009-10
5/13 by Samiullah Shenwari (Afghanistan*) v Kenya, Sharjah, 2013-14
5/19 by Ahsan Malik (Netherlands) v South Africa, Chittagong, 2013-14
5/24 by Alasdair Evans (Scotland) v Netherlands, Edinburgh, 2015
5/27 by Mark Watt (Scotland) v Netherlands, Dubai, 2015-16
5/3 by Rashid Khan (Afghanistan*) v Ireland, Greater Noida, 2016-17
5/24 by Ibrahim Hassan (Maldives) v Bahrain, Muscat, 2018-19
5/9 by Christi Viljoen (Namibia) v Botswana, Kampala, 2019
5/17 by Charles Perchard (Jersey) v Guernsey, Castel, 2019
5/15 by Damien Ravu (Papua New Guinea) v Vanuatu, Apia, 2019
5/19 by Nalin Nipiko (Vanuatu) v Papua New Guinea, Apia, 2019
5/36 by Joshua Rasu (Vanuatu) v Papua New Guinea, Apia, 2019
5/17 by Norman Vanua (Papua New Guinea) v Vanuatu, Apia, 2019
5/18 by Allan Douglas (Bermuda) v Cayman Islands, Sandys Parish, 2019
5/6 by Ankush Nanda (Luxembourg) v Turkey, Ilfov County, 2019
5/4 by Pedro Arrighi (Argentina) v Brazil, Lima, 2019-20
5/15 by Aamir Kaleem (Oman) v Nepal, Muscat, 2019-20

*Afghanistan were an Associate side until June 2017