5 most expensive spells in T20 internationals
“If it’s a T20 match, I’d want to be batting!” - I’m sure this is what most cricketers in the world would say as bowling in this format can at times make even the best of bowlers look worse than part-timers. Power-hitting combined with cheeky improvisation can turn bowlers’ analysis into such horrific numbers that they won’t ever want to look at them again.
Also Read: Most expensive bowling spells in ODIs
In this vein, let’s have a look at which the 5 most expensive spells in T20Is are. This list contains, rather surprisingly, 4 strike bowlers and one genuine all-rounder, which tells us that in a T20 game, when batsmen go berserk, even the best of bowlers can be taken to the cleaners, and when there’s carnage, there’s nowhere to hide.
#5 Mashrafe Mortaza – vs Pakistan at Dhaka, 30 March 2014
Figures: 4 overs, 0 for 63
It was the World T20 in 2014, and Bangladesh were playing Pakistan at home in Dhaka. Pakistan won the toss and batted first. Mashrafe opened the bowling and bowled a more than decent first over, the first of the innings, in which he gave away just 5 runs.
In his 2nd over, Ahmed Shehzad, the flamboyant Pakistan opener, tore into him and smashed 3 fours and a six, taking 18 off it. 23 off 2 overs now, which was still not too bad, but the worst was yet to come.
He was taken off after his 2nd over and then brought back by captain Mushfiqur Rahim in the 16th over of the innings. Here again, Shehzad took 2 fours of him and also fooled him by smart footwork into bowling a huge leg-side wide that cost 5, making it 16 off the over.
But it was his last over, the 19th of the innings, that proved to be the costliest, where Shehzad, who’d by now fallen in love with Mashrafe’s bowling, hit him for a four and a six, and Shahid Afridi, who had come in to bat in just the previous over, powered 2 huge sixes, one off a free hit, to loot 24 off the over.
The result – a spell of 4 wicket-less overs for 63.