The batters in the team can score as many runs as they can but it is the bowlers who more often decide the outcome of the game. If they have a bad day, then any target is achievable for the opposition, and in the case of bowling first, they have the responsibility to make sure that their team is chasing as little as possible.
For that, the team has to have its bowling department covered for every aspect of the innings. They need to have a pace spearhead(s) who can bowl well at the powerplays and also have the ability to take wickets upfront. They should also possess the ability to chip in the middle-overs before coming at the end overs bowing at their full throttle.
On the contrary, find here the list of most expensive death overs in T20Is, where the maximum runs are scored by the batting team.
In the case of T20Is, overs 16-20 are considered the death overs. And picking wickets in this part of the game can silence the opposition batting unit, thereby reduce their scoring rate.
In this article, we will list the top ten wicket-takers in death overs in T20I cricket, i.e., the bowlers who have taken the most number of wickets in the overs between 16 and 20.
Most Wickets in Death Overs in T20I Cricket
| BOWLERS | WICKETS | INNINGS | ECON. RATE | AVERAGE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tim Southee (NZ) | 65 | 100 | 9.13 | 18.09 |
| Mustafizur Rahman (BAN) | 62 | 86 | 8.24 | 15.93 |
| Chris Jordan (ENG) | 61 | 78 | 9.44 | 18.96 |
| Lasith Malinga (SL) | 57 | 69 | 8.39 | 15.87 |
| Mark Adair (IRE) | 53 | 67 | 9.92 | 17.47 |
| Haris Rauf (PAK) | 53 | 62 | 8.00 | 14.00 |
| Dwayne Bravo (WI) | 47 | 56 | 8.95 | 15.53 |
| Umar Gul (PAK) | 46 | 50 | 7.67 | 11.86 |
| Arshdeep Singh (AFG) | 46 | 48 | 9.11 | 14.00 |
| Saeed Ajmal (PAK) | 44 | 57 | 7.46 | 11.93 |
Key Stats
180 – Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga leads the list regarding overall limited overs (this and the ODI list together), taking 180 wickets in the death overs. This includes a record of 123 wickets in the last 10 overs of an ODI inning, while he is one of the bowlers to have taken 50 or more wickets in the death overs in the shortest format of the game. It is safe to say that the Sri Lankan veteran is arguably the best death bowler the game has ever seen.
Similar to his death overs heroics, Malinga was also popularly known for his hat-trick picking skills in limited overs cricket. In fact, he is the only player ever in T20 cricket to pick 4 wickets in an over.
3 – Bowlers who have taken 50 wickets or more in T20Is in the death overs are Lasith Malinga, Tim Southee, and Chris Jordan of England. The players actively playing and who can join this incredible club are Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman, Haris Rauf, and Rashid Khan. Jasprit Bumrah sitting at the 11th spot, can go up the list sometime in the future.
The likes of Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal were instrumental in death overs in Pakistan clinching the 2009 T20 World Cup as was Dwayne Bravo’s magic in death overs playing a role West Indies winning 2 T20 WC’s. Who can forget Lasith Malinga’s incredible run as captain in the 2014 T20 World Cup?
It is also very pleasing to see the likes of Ireland’s Mark Adair piping the many other famous names such as Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Bumrah, and Shaheen Afridi to be on this list.
Also Read: How many variations does Rashid Khan have in his kitty?
