Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan became the highest wicket-taker in T20Is during his side’s tri-series match against hosts United Arab Emirates on Monday (September 1).
Chasing 189 in the third match of the tri-series, the UAE were placed comfortably at 76-1 after eight overs when Rashid broke the dangerous-looking 61-run stand between captain Muhammad Waseem and Ethan D’Souza off the very first ball of the ninth over, trapping D’Souza lbw for 12. Rashid struck again in his next over, bowling UAE No.5 Asif Khan for one. His third wicket came in the 15th over when Dhruv Parashar fell for one. Rashid finished with figures of 3-21, becoming the highest wicket-taker in T20Is in the process.
However, it was left-arm spinner Sharafuddin Ashraf whose vital dismissal of Waseem for 67 off 37 balls ended the UAE’s hopes, virtually sealing Afghanistan’s victory. He picked up 3-24 to power his team to a 38-run win. The victory was set up by twin fifties from Sediqullah Atal (54) and Ibrahim Zadran (63) in the first innings.
Match 3, Afghanistan vs United Arab Emirates
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Rashid overtakes Southee as the highest wicket-taker in T20Is
Rashid topped the T20I wickets chart in his 98th innings. The previous record-holder, now-retired Tim Southee, took 25 innings more than Rashid for his 164 wickets.
Rashid has also taken these wickets at an astounding average of 13.75, compared to Southee’s 22.38. That is the best among Full Member players who have taken a minimum of 50 wickets. Only one other Full Member player (Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga, with a strike rate of 13.2) has taken at least 100 wickets with a better strike rate than Rashid’s 13.5.
Earlier, in February, Rashid went on to surpass Dwayne Bravo’s tally of 631 wickets to become the highest wicket-taker in all T20s. Having played his first match in the format in 2015 as a teenager, Rashid, still only 26, achieved the feat during the SA20 Qualifier 1 for season champions MI Cape Town.
Rashid currently has 664 T20 wickets at an average of 18.47 and an economy rate of 6.59 from 489 matches.
