Bangladesh thrashed Ireland by 77 runs in the second T20I to seal the three-match series on Wednesday, March 29. Skipper Shakib Al Hasan first smashed unbeaten 38 off 24 and then took 5/22 to bag the Player of the Match award. With his fourth wicket, he became the leading wicket-taker in T20Is with 136 wickets from 114 matches.
Shakib surpassed New Zealand pacer Tim Southee, who has picked 134 wickets from 107 T20I matches to date. Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan, who recently guided his team to a historic T20I series win against Pakistan, is also competing for the top spot with 129 wickets from just 80 matches. Shakib now has taken 136 wickets at an average of 20.67 and an economy rate of 6.80 so far.
While batting first, Litton Das’ 83 off 41 and Shakib’s 38* off 24 helped Bangladesh score 202/3 in a rain-hit 17-over game. Shakib then further made an impact with the ball with five wickets to restrict the Irish side to just 125/9. He dismissed Lorcan Tucker in the second over and bowled out opener Ross Adair in the fourth over to give his team a big start.
He dismissed Gareth Delany in the same over to equal Southee’s wickets tally of 134 wickets in T20Is. Shakib’s record-breaking wicket came in the form of George Dockrell as he dismissed him lbw in the sixth over. He then bowled out Harry Tector in the same over to complete a remarkable five-fer.
Curtis Campher tried to keep his team alive in the game by smashing 50 off 30 but did not get much support from his teammates. In-form pacer Taskin Ahmed finished the game with three wickets, including Campher’s wicket in the 15th over.
Litton also achieved a big feat in this game as he smashed the fastest T20I fifty for Bangladesh. He reached the 50-run mark in just 18 balls to break the previous record held by former captain Mohammad Ashraful who recorded a 20-ball fifty against West Indies in the 2007 T20 World Cup.