3 Instances of bowlers bowling four maiden overs in a match in T20I cricket

Only three bowlers have bowled four maiden overs in a match in T20I cricket.

Bowling in T20I cricket is a far more difficult task owing to various factors. Field restrictions and batters going haywire from ball one give bowlers very little time to breathe. Therefore bowling even a single maiden over in a quota of four overs is considered to be a huge achievement.

Given how boundary sizes have shrunk and bat sizes have grown in the modern era of cricket, it is unusual to witness a bowler bowl a single maiden over in a four-over spell. However, some bowlers have accomplished the unfathomable by completing their four-over quota in a T20I game without allowing a single run.

Since inception of T20 internationals in 2005, only three bowlers have claimed four maiden overs in a T20I match.

Here we take a look at the three bowlers who have bowled four maidens in a T20I:

1. Saad Bin Zafar (Canada v Panama)

The first bowler ever to achieve the feat of bowling four maidens in a T20I was Canada’s Saad Bin Zafar. Zafar achieved this feat when Canada played against Panama in the T20 World Cup Qualifier of the Americas region in 2021.

Canada had batted first and posted 245/1 with Rayyan Pathan slamming 107* in 62 balls and Navneet Dhaliwal making 65 in 36 balls. Hamza Tariq also scored 55* in just 25 balls only. However, on the same pitch, Panama were bowled out for 37 runs as Canada won the game by 208 runs.

While Salman Nazar picked 3/8, Saad Bin Zafar made history with the ball with figures of 4 over, 4 maidens, and 2 wickets in his quota. His spin was masterminding as he picked up wickets of Dinesh Bhai Ahir and Mohamad Patel.

2. Lockie Ferguson (New Zealand v Papua New Guinea)

While Saad Bin Zafar was the first bowler in T20I history to bowl four maidens in his 4-over quota, New Zealand pacer Lockie Ferguson became the second bowler in T20Is and the first bowler in ICC T20 World Cups to achieve this feat.

Papua New Guinea and New Zealand faced off in a group match of the T20 World Cup 2024 in Tarouba. PNG batted first and only posted 78 runs in 20 overs. Trent Boult, Tim Southee, and Ish Sodhi all picked two wickets each.

But the star of the show with the ball was pacer Lockie Ferguson, who clocked well over 145kph in his entire spell and even sued slower balls to good effect. He finished with four maidens in four overs with three wickets to his name. He dismissed Charles Amini LBW and then rattled Chad Soper’s stumps to complete his three-wicket haul.

3. Ayush Shukla (Hong Kong v Mongolia)

The latest bowler to join this elusive list is Hong Kong’s Ayush Shukla. The right-arm pacer achieved the feat in a T20I game between his team Hong Kong and Mongolia in the ICC Men’s T20I World Cup Asia Qualifier A in Malaysia in 2024.

Ayush opened the bowling for HK and bowled his quota of four overs on a trot. He didn’t concede a single run in his 24 balls and finished with bowling figures of 4-4-0-1. Shukla’s remarkable effort was part of Hong Kong’s strong bowling performance, which held Mongolia to only 17 runs. Hong Kong then easily chased down the target in just 1.4 overs, winning by nine wickets.

(List updated till 2nd September, 2024)

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