Taskin Ahmed scripted history on a wintry afternoon at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur as the right-arm quick became just the third bowler to take seven wickets in Twenty20 cricket Thursday with bowling figure of 4-0-19-7.
Featuring for Durbar Rajshahi against Dhaka Capitals, the 29-year old’s seven-wicket haul is the best bowling figure in the Bangladesh Premier League.
Taskin surpassed Pakistan's Mohammad Amir, who claimed 6/17 for Khulna Tigers against Rajshahi Royals in 2020 at the same venue.
Prior to Taskin's heroics, Shakib al Hasan held the record for the best T20 bowling figure by a Bangladeshi, having bagged six wickets for just six runs for Barbados Tridents against Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel in the Caribbean Premier League in 2013.
Only two bowlers – Malaysia's Syrazul Idrus and the Netherlands' Colin Ackermann – have taken seven wickets in T20s prior to Taskin.
Idrus conceded just eight runs in a T20I against China in 2023 while Ackermann gave away 18 in a domestic T20 match for Leicestershire against Birmingham Bears in the Vitality Blast in England.
The best bowling figure in T20Is between Test nations belong to Indian pacer Deepak Chahar, who notched six wickets for seven runs against Bangladesh in Nagpur in 2019.
Despite Taskin's fiery spell in the beginning where he removed Liton Das for a duck in his first over and Tanzid Hasan (nine) in his second, Dhaka eventually recovered and managed to score 174 losing nine wickets in their stipulated 20 overs.
Taskin then wreaked havoc in the latter stages of the innings, picking up five of his seven wickets in his last two overs.
In the 17th over, he removed Dhaka's top-scorer Shahadat Hossain Dipu (50) before dismissing Chaturanga de Silva (one).
In the final over, player of the match Taskin took three wickets in four balls, narrowly missing out on a hat-trick.
His national team colleague Mustafizur Rahman denied him the elusive feat by taking a single off the final delivery.
"It is always special to take a five-wicket haul in any format. I have taken three or four wickets plenty of times. You need luck to get five. I am really happy. It's a big deal for me. I am from Bangladesh so I will remember holding this BPL record," Taskin said during the post-match press conference.
In reply, Rajshahi chased down their 175-run target with ease as skipper Anamul Haque Bijoy remained unbeaten on 73 off 46 with nine fours and three sixes, while Zimbabwean Ryan Burl blasted 55 not out off 33.
5TH MATCH
Dhaka Capitals 174/9 (Dipu 50, Taskin 7/19) lost to Durbar Rajshahi 179/3 in 18.1 overs (Anamul 73*, Burl 55*) by 7 wickets
