Tim Southee becomes first bowler to complete 150 T20I wickets
Veteran New Zealand pacer Tim Southee has scripted history by becoming the first bowler to complete 150 T20I wickets. He accomplished the milestone with his third wicket in the series opener against Pakistan in Auckland. The right-arm pacer eventually finished with 4/25 as NZ won the duel by 46 runs. He dismissed the likes of Mohammad Rizwan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Abbas Afridi, and Haris Rauf.
150 scalps for Southee
Southee, who made his T20I debut in February 2008, has now raced to 151 wickets in 118 games at an average of 22.96. His economy rate reads 8.11. With 140 wickets, Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan trails Southee in terms of T20I scalps. Meanwhile, Ish Sodhi (127) and Mitchell Santner (105) are the only other Kiwi bowlers with 100-plus T20I scalps.
Two fifers in T20Is
Southee is the only Kiwi bowler with two five-wicket hauls in T20Is. His second fifer came last year against the United Arab Emirates. He also took a fifer against Pakistan in 2010. His 5/25 against UAE are the fourth-best figures for a full-member team captain in T20I cricket. No other Kiwi bowler owns a T20I fifer while leading the team.
Two hat-tricks in T20Is
Back in 2010, Southee became only the third bowler to claim a hat-trick in T20I cricket. The game against Pakistan marked his milestone. In 2022, he claimed a hat-trick against India as well. Sri Lanka's Lasith Malinga is the only other bowler with two hat-tricks in the shortest format. Jacob Oram, Michael Bracewell, and Matt Henry are the other Kiwi bowlers with T20I hat-tricks.
His numbers in home, away, neutral venues
85 of Southee's wickets have come in 63 T20Is at home (ER: 8.35). While the NZ star owns 35 wickets in 26 away T20Is (ER: 8.10), 31 of his scalps have come in 29 neutral venues at an economy of 7.61. 32 of his wickets have come against Pakistan at 16.65. The tally includes two four-wicket hauls and a solitary fifer.
How did the game pan out?
Finn Allen's 35 off 15 balls gave NZ a flying start. Kane Williamson (57) and Daryl Mitchell (61) helped NZ finish at 226/8. Shaheen Afridi and Abbas Afridi claimed three-fers. Pakistan started their chase well thanks to Saim Ayub (27 off 8 balls). However, the visitors could not keep up to the required rate thereafter as they fell short despite Babar Azam's 57.
