Mitchell Santner becomes third New Zealand bowler to complete 100 T20I wickets
Sep 06, 2023
Nottingham [UK], September 6 : Spin bowling all-rounder Mitchell Santner on Tuesday night completed 100 wickets in T20I cricket, becoming only the third New Zealand player to do so.
He reached this milestone during New Zealand's fourth T20I against England.
In the match, Santner shined with figures of 3/30 in four overs. He took the wickets of Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan and Moeen Ali.
In 90 T20Is, Santner now has 100 wickets at an average of 22.06, with an economy rate of 7.08 and best bowling figures of 4/11.
With 100 T20I wickets, he is behind skipper Tim Southee (144 wickets), Ish Sodhi (126 wickets) in terms of T20I wickets for Kiwis.
Overall, he is only the eighth bowler to reach the 100-wicket mark in T20Is. Southee (144 wickets), Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan (140 wickets), Rashid Khan of Afghanistan (130 wickets), Ish Sodhi (126 wickets) and Sri Lankan legend Lasith Malinga (107 wickets) are among the top wickets-takers in T20Is. Santner is currently placed at number nine.
Coming to the match, England elected to bat first. With knocks from Jonny Bairstow (73 in 41 balls, five fours and six sixes), Dawid Malan (26 in 21 balls) and Liam Livingstone (26* in 20 balls), England reached 175/8 in 20 overs.
Santner (3/30) and Sodhi (2/21) were the leading bowlers for NZ.
In the chase of 176, quickfire knocks from Tim Seifert (48 in 32 balls, six fours and two sixes), Glenn Phillips (42 in 25 balls with two fours and three sixes) and Mark Chapman (40 in 25 balls, five fours and a six) helped NZ reach the target in 17.2 overs.
Rehan Ahmed (2/27) was the pick of the bowlers for England.
NZ managed to draw the four-match series 2-2.