It took 117 matches for Tim Southee, who scalped four wickets in the New Zealand vs Pakistan encounter, to reach the landmark. He also holds the T20 international record for most balls bowled - 2,564
New Zealand pacer Tim Southee became the first bowler in the history of T20 International cricket to take 150 wickets. The 35-year-old achieved the feat when he had Pakistan's Abbas Afridi caught by Matt Henry during their first T20I match at Eden Park, Auckland Friday. (Scorecard | More Cricket News)
It took 117 matches for Southee to reach the landmark. The right-arm pacer registered figures of 4/25 in four overs, including the final two wickets, those of Afridi and Haris Rauf, in the 18th over as the Kiwis beat Pakistan by 46 runs.
"Tim has been around for a long time and this is a credit to his consistent performances over a long period," said New Zealand captain Kane Williamson after the match. "But he also adds so much as a leader in our environment - a calm head and it's pretty good to have him out there with some young nasty fast (bowlers)."
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The veteran New Zealand quick was the third bowler to reach the 100-wicket mark in T20Is, after Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh and Lasith Malinga of Sri Lanka. But he was the seventh joint fastest to claim 100 wickets, along with Shakib -- both reaching the mark in 84 matches each.
Rashid Khan of Afghanistan (also for ICC) took just 53 matches to reach the mark. The chart also features the likes of Mark Adair (72) of Ireland, Malinga (76), Ish Sodhi (78) of New Zealand and Mustafizur Rahman (81) of Bangladesh in the top seven.
Southee, who made his international debut in a T20I game against England in February 2008, now has 151 scalps at an average of 22.96 and a strike rate of 16.98.
Here's a look at the top five wicket-takers in T20Is: 1. Tim Southee (151), 2. Shakib Al Hasan (140), 3. Rashid Khan (130), 4. Ish Sodhi (127), 5. Lasith Malinga (107) and Adil Rashid of England (107).
Southee also holds the T20I record for most balls bowled. In a career spanning more than 15 years, he has bowled 2,564 deliveries while conceding 3,468 runs, which is also a world record, at an economy rate of 8.11 per over.
The second match of the five-match New Zealand and Pakistan T20I series is scheduled to be played at Seddon Park, Hamilton on Sunday. The start time is 7:10 PM local (11:40 PM IST).