New Zealand leg spinner Ish Sodhi has broken the national record previously held by his former teammate and great fast bowler Tim Southee. Ludhiana-born Sodhi achieved this feat while playing for New Zealand against Bangladesh in the ongoing T20 series.
New Zealand defeated Bangladesh in the third T20 match
The third and deciding T20 match of the series was played on 2 May in Mirpur. The first match was won by the host team and the second was cancelled, so New Zealand needed to win this match so as not to lose the series.
The Kiwi team made proper use of the conditions and restricted Bangladesh to just 104 runs. Ben Sears and Nathan Smith took two wickets each, while Josh Clarkson took 3. Jayden Lennox and Ish Sodhi also took one wicket each.
New Zealand got off to a good start in terms of run rate, but Shoriful Islam struck three times in the powerplay to restrict the visitors to 25/3. Bevon Jacobs then scored an unbeaten 62 off just 31 balls to ensure that New Zealand won the match and leveled the series at 1–1.
Ish Sodhi has become the highest wicket taker for New Zealand in T20.
In the T20 series against Bangladesh, Sodhi took 3 wickets in 2 matches. When he dismissed Shamim Hossain on Saturday, Sodhi broke the record for most wickets by a New Zealand player in T20Is.
Sodhi has been playing in this format since 2014 and has 165 wickets to his name in 142 matches. Tim Southee, who took 164 wickets in T-20, is now at second place. Mitchell Santner, with 142, is the only other New Zealander to take 100 T20I wickets.
Most wickets for New Zealand in T20I
| player | Matchbox | Wicket | Econ. | 4+ w haul |
| Ish Sodhi | 142 | 165 | 8.16 | 4 |
| Tim Southee | 126 | 164 | 8 | 4 |
| michel santner | 138 | 142 | 7.17 | 3 |
| trent bolt | 61 | 83 | 7.68 | 2 |
| lockie ferguson | 54 | 76 | 7.33 | 3 |
Ish Sodhi is also the second highest wicket taker in T20I
Apart from becoming New Zealand’s all-time highest wicket-taker in the shortest format, Sodhi has also become the second-highest wicket-taker of all-time for any country.
With 193 T20I wickets, only Rashid Khan has more wickets than the Kiwi legspinner in this format. Sodhi would like to surpass the Afghan spinner and remain at the top position in the shortest format of the game.
Most wickets in T20I
| player | Matchbox | Wicket | Econ. | 4+ w haul |
| Rashid Khan | 115 | 193 | 6.04 | 11 |
| Ish Sodhi | 142 | 165 | 8.16 | 4 |
| Tim Southee | 126 | 164 | 8 | 4 |
| adil rashid | 145 | 163 | 7.48 | 4 |
| Mustafizur Rahman | 126 | 158 | 7.28 | 5 |
Next match of New Zealand and Ish Sodhi
New Zealand’s next assignment after the Bangladesh tour will be a Test match in Ireland, followed by three Test matches against England in May-June. After this, New Zealand will go on a limited overs tour of West Indies, which will consist of 3 ODIs and 3 T20 matches.
At present, Sodhi is not the first choice player in either Test or ODI, so he may not take part in these matches and may have to wait till the end of July to play in the T20 series against West Indies. Along with 165 T20I wickets, Sodhi has also taken 64 wickets in 54 ODI matches and 58 wickets in 21 Test matches.
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