OTD 2023: Syazrul Idrus became the first bowler to take seven wickets in a men’s T20I

On this day in 2023, Malaysian Samer Syazrul Idrus became the first-ever bowler to pick up a seven-wicket haul in men’s T20 international matches. Malaysia took on China in the opening game of the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup Asia Qualifiers Group B in Kuala Lumpur when Idrus achieved that historic feat.

China, electing to bat first, were cautious in their start, reaching 12 for no loss in four overs. It was then that Idrus began his onslaught, having opener Wang Liuyang bowled off his first ball of his second over, before having Wei Guo Lei, Tian Sen Qun, and Chen Zhuo Yue bowled in the final four balls of the over.

He had Wang Qi bowled in his next over to finish his third over with figures of 5 for 8. In his final over, he had Xie Kunkun and Zhao Tianle bowled, finishing with figures of 4-1-7-8, which was the first time a bowler had picked up seven wickets in a T20I match. Malaysia chased their target of 24 runs down with much comfort despite losing openers Syed Ali and Muhammad Amir for ducks. They reached home in just 4.5 overs to complete a famous victory with eight wickets in hand.

The qualifier consisted of five teams – Bhutan, Myanmar, China, Thailand and hosts Malaysia, who eventually emerged victorious. The hosts went on an unbeaten run in the tournament, beating all four of their adversaries to emerge victorious. Idrus finished as the best bowler of the tournament with ten wickets in four matches, despite being unable to replicate the form from his lofty figures in the tournament opener. Malaysia went on to the Asia Regional Finals, finishing third in a group consisting of heavyweights Oman, Nepal and Singapore, but were unable to seal their qualification.

Idrus’ figures, apart from being the best international figures, were also the best T20 figures by a bowler at the time. The previous record belonged to the Netherlands’ Colin Ackerman, who picked up figures of 7 for 18 against the Birmingham Bears in the 2019 T20 Blast, playing for Leicestershire.

At the time, Peter Aho of Nigeria held the record for the best figures in T20 international matches, picking up figures of 6 for 5 against Sierra Leone in 2021. Now, however, the record has been long eclipsed by multiple bowlers, with Bhutan’s left-arm spinner Sonam Yeshey picking up eight wickets for just seven runs against Myanmar in 2025. Sachin Gill of Kenya picked up seven wickets for seven runs against Cameroon to push Idrus down to third in the all-time rankings.

Among full-member nations, however, the record still stands strong, with Deepak Chahar’s 6 for 7 against Bangladesh yet to be eclipsed. The Indian fast bowler picked up the figures in a T20I match in November 2019 and is still the best figures picked up in a match between two Test-playing nations.

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