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Going by plain cricketing logic, picking up five wickets in an innings in a T20 match should be considered a rather difficult job for bowlers. The simple reason is that there are only 120 legal deliveries available in an innings. To cut it down further, each bowler can only send down four overs in an innings.
Despite the above limitations and the fact that T20 cricket is considered a batter's game, there have been numerous instances of bowlers picking up five or more wickets in an innings in T20s. Two bowlers have even claimed seven-wicket hauls in the T20 format. Malaysia's medium pacer Syazrul Idrus holds the record for best bowling figures in T20s. He picked up 7-8 against China in Kuala Lumpur.
One of the easiest explanations as to why a lot of bowlers end up picking five or more wickets in T20s is that most batters have no option but to go after the bowling due to the limited number of deliveries.
As a result, not only frontline bowlers, but non-regular ones also end up among the wickets. In this feature, we look at three part-time bowlers who have taken a five-wicket haul in T20 cricket.
#1 Marnus Labuschagne
Australian batter Marnus Labuschagne claimed 5-11 in 2.3 overs, while representing Glamorgan against Somerset in a South Group Vitality Blast match at the Sophia Gardens in Cardiff on July 19. Thanks to Labuschagne's unexpected batting heroics, Somerset were knocked over for 123 in 13.3 overs after being set a target of 244.
Labuschagne, a part-time leg-spinner, got the scalps of Lewis Gregory (7), Ben Green (8), Riley Meredith (0), Jack Leach (0) and Jake Ball (8). The 30-year-old Australian has 39 wickets to his name from 55 T20s at an average of 19.46, an economy rate of 8.77, and a strike rate of 13.3.
His wonderful bowling performance against Somerset marked the first instance of him picking a five-wicket haul in T20s.
#2 Faf du Plessis
Former South Africa captain and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) skipper Faf du Plessis has two five-wicket hauls in T20 cricket. The 40-year-old, known more for his batting exploits, holds the record for being the first bowler to take consecutive five-fers in T20s.
The part-time leg-spinner claimed 5-19 from his four overs against Northerns in the CSA Provincial T20 Challenge in October 2011. Courtesy of the brilliant bowling effort by Du Plessis, the Northerns won the match by 13 runs, defending a total of 158. Du Plessis picked up the scalps of Cobus Pienaar (14), Rushdi Jappie (2), Mangaliso Mosehle (9), Brad Moses (13) and Sean O'Connor (3).
The part-timer also picked up 5-28 for Titans against Lions in the MiWAY T20 Challenge at the New Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg in March 2012. Bowling first, Titans restricted Lions to 163-7 as Du Plessis got the big scalps of Quinton de Kock (40), Neil McKenzie (48), Dwaine Pretorius (4), Chris Morris (8) and Thami Tsolekile (4).
Du Plessis' heroics, however, went in vain as the Titans were held to 147-9 in a chase of 164.
#3 Rahul Tripathi
Team India batter Rahul Tripathi registered excellent figures of 5-27 from his four overs in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in March 2013. Representing Maharashtra against Mumbai in the West Zone clash in Ahmedabad, his five-wicket haul held Mumbai to 198-9 after Maharashtra had posted 215-4 batting first.
A part-time right-arm medium pacer, Tripathi dismissed the well-set Aditya Tare (38) and also added the scalps of Siddhesh Lad (7), Siddharth Chitnis (41), Ankeet Chavan (14) and Iqbal Abdulla (3). Tripathi's bowling perfectly backed up a solid batting effort by Maharashtra, with Vijay Zol clobbering 109 off 63 and Kedar Jadhav 53 off 22.
While Tripathi has a five-fer to his name in T20s, he has only picked up 12 wickets in the format overall. The 33-year-old, known for his sparkling knocks while representing Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL, has claimed his scalps at an average of 23.75 and an economy rate of 7.50.
