Bahrain pacer Ali Dawood produced a stunning performance on Friday, claiming seven wickets for just 19 runs against Bhutan, marking the second-best bowling figures in international T20 cricket.
The 33-year-old seam bowler became only the second player, after Malaysia’s Siazurul Idrus, to take seven wickets in a T20 international. Dawood tore through the Bhutanese batting line-up with clinical precision, helping Bahrain secure a 35-run victory in the third match of the five-game series.
Dawood made an early impact, striking twice in the third over to reduce Bhutan to three wickets for just 11 runs. He then wreaked further havoc in the lower order, taking three more wickets in the 16th over and adding two more in the following over. Bhutan, who had reached 67 for the fourth wicket, were eventually bowled out for 125. Chasing 126, Bahrain comfortably reached 160 for four, moving 2-1 ahead in the series.
The record remains topped by Siazurul Idrus, who took seven wickets for eight runs against China in the 2023 T20 World Cup Asia B Qualifier at Bayuemas Oval, with all dismissals bowled. Other notable T20 performances include Singapore’s Harsha Vardwaj (6-3 against Mongolia in 2024), Nigeria’s Peter Aho (6-5 against Sierra Leone in 2021), and India’s Deepak Chahar (6-7 against Bangladesh in 2019). Among players from Test-playing nations, Chahar’s figures remain the best.
