5 bowlers who picked up 4 wickets in an over in T20s

Pakistani speedster Shaheen Shah Afridi pulled off a ridiculous feat by becoming the first bowler to bag four wickets in the first over of a T20 innings. He did so during Nottinghamshire's T20 Blast game against Birmingham Bears at Trent Bridge on Friday, June 30.

After Nottinghamshire posted 168 on the board, Afridi ripped Birmingham's top order apart in a skillful display of swing bowling. After his first delivery was a wide that made it to the fence, he floored Alex Davies on the first ball with a toe-crusher before castling the dangerous Chris Benjamin.

Dan Mousley was caught at short cover later in the over before Ed Barnard had no answer to another scorching yorker. Alas for Nottinghamshire, they couldn't stop the Bears from chasing down their target successfully despite having had them at 7/4 at one stage.

While Afridi became the first bowler to bag four in the first over of a T20 innings, there have been other instances of bowlers doing it in various other stages of the innings. Here's a read into five of them:

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#1 Lasith Malinga vs New Zealand, 2019

Having bagged four wickets in as many deliveries at the ODI World Cup in 2007 against South Africa, Lasith Malinga replicated the feat in a T20I against New Zealand in 2019. Only this time, he managed to do so in a single over as against spreading it out over the course of two.

New Zealand took an unassailable lead in the three-match T20I series before restricting Sri Lanka to 125/8 in the final match at the R Premadasa Stadium. Skipper Malinga took matters into his own hands though as he broke the back of the Kiwi batting lineup in the third over.

An inswinger castled Colin Munro before Hamish Rutherford was trapped in front after a successful review. Colin de Grandhomme then had no clue to a peach of an outswinging yorker as he was bowled although not without drama as Malinga just about managed to avoid overstepping.

The next ball saw a toe-crusher ping Ross Taylor plumb in front as Malinga scripted the unthinkable. He picked up another wicket to end with 5/6 off his four overs as New Zealand were bowled out for a mere 88.

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#2 Jason Holder vs England, 2022

England toured the West Indies for a five-match T20I series in January 2022. In what was a see-saw battle, the two teams were deadlocked at 2-2 ahead of the decider at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.

Having scored 179/4, West Indies had a solid total to play with. Even as James Vince struck a half-century, England collapsed to 119/6 before Sam Billings and Chris Jordan hung in there to take the game deep. The equation boiled down to 20 runs required off the final over with Jason Holder entrusted with bowling it.

He started off with a no-ball as Billings got off strike but then came something special. After the free hit was a dot, Jordan slogged a low full toss to deep mid-wicket. Billings met a similar fate as he returned to strike and that was the final nail in the coffin for England.

Holder wasn't done yet though. Adil Rashid heaved a slower delivery into the hands of deep mid-wicket, resulting in a hat-trick before Reece Topley was castled by a bail-trimmer, handing Holder his fourth wicket in as many deliveries as West Indies wrapped up a 17-run win.

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#3 Yuzvendra Chahal vs Kolkata Knight Riders, 2022

IPL 2022 was quite a dream season for Yuzvendra Chahal as he ended with the Purple Cap on his head. His best display for the Rajasthan Royals (RR) that year came in a thriller against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.

After a Jos Buttler century powered the Royals to 217/5, Shreyas Iyer put KKR right on track to overhaul the target. Sanju Samson held Chahal back for the slog overs and it paid rich dividends the moment he tossed the ball to the leggie in the 17th over. Venkatesh Iyer was stumped off a googly before just two runs came off the next two deliveries.

Chahal, who wasn't afraid to toss the ball up, then nipped the big fish with Shreyas dismissed lbw for 85. Shivam Mavi miscued one right after before Pat Cummins nicked a sharp turner to the keeper as Chahal bagged a hat-trick before tearing into a celebratory run.

The Royals held their nerve by seven runs with KKR bowled out for 210 with two deliveries left in the chase.

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#4 Andre Russell vs Gujarat Titans, 2022

Barely days after Chahal bamboozled KKR, Andre Russell replicated the feat and bagged four in an over when KKR took on Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai.

Funnily enough, he was summoned to bowl a solitary over - the 20th, with the Titans on 151/5 at the start of it. With the batters going for the big shots, they swung hard but picked out the boundary rider at will with Abhinav Manohar and Lockie Ferguson perishing off the first two deliveries before Rahul Tewatia followed off the penultimate delivery.

Each of these catches was taken by Rinku Singh before Russell had Yash Dayal jamming a yorker straight back to him to finish with four wickets off the only over he sent down. Alas for KKR, it went in vain as GT held their nerve to defend 156 by eight runs.

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#5 Curtis Campher vs Netherlands, 2021

Ireland and the Netherlands met in the First Round of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Max O'Dowd led the Dutch charge despite a couple of early wickets but had to witness something outrageous from the non-striker's end in the 10th over.

Curtis Campher bowled an ordinary first over but turned things around in dramatic fashion. He strangled Colin Ackermann down the leg side before having seasoned campaigner Ryan ten Doeschate caught dead in front. Scott Edwards was given not out on the field but a successful review saw Ireland get the lbw in their favor, handing Campher a hat-trick.

Roelof van der Merwe also departed on the first ball as he played onto his stumps and from 51/2, Campher had the Dutch sliding to 51/6 post which they simply couldn't recover. He became just the second player to take a Men's T20 World Cup hat-trick after Brett Lee did so way back in 2007.

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Which of these spells where a bowler bagged four wickets in an over is your favorite? Have your say in the comments section below!

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