Bhutan’s spinner Sonam Yeshe created history with her incredible bowling performance in the ongoing five-match T20 series against Myanmar. The left-arm spinner took eight wickets in the match, which no bowler had ever done before in T20 cricket, making it a historic moment for Bhutan.
After being asked to bat first, Bhutan scored a total of 127 runs in 20 overs on 26 December at the Gelephu International Cricket Ground. Bhutan’s bowlers then tore apart Myanmar’s batting line-up, bowling them out for just 45 runs in 9.2 overs. They achieved a spectacular victory of 82 runs in a one-sided match.
Bhutan spinner Sonam Yeshi claims world-record best T20I bowling figures
Sonam Yeshe bowled brilliantly while defending the target. The 22-year-old left-arm spinner took 8 wickets for 7 runs in his four overs. He registered a new world record in his name in T20 international cricket.
With this performance, Yeshe broke the previous best performance in the format, which was held by Syazrul Idrus, who took 7 for 8 against China in 2023. Before this, no bowler in international or domestic cricket had taken eight wickets in a T20 match.
Before Yeshe’s spell, only two players, including Syazrul Idrus and Ali Dawood, had managed to take seven wickets in men’s T20Is. Even in domestic T20 cricket, the feat of taking seven wickets has been extremely rare.
Best bowling figures in a T20I innings:
| player | over | statistics | Team | Oppose | match date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sonam Yeshi | 4.0 | 8/7 | bhutan | myanmar | 26 December 2025 |
| Sayajrul Idrus | 4.0 | 7/8 | malaysia | China | 26 July 2023 |
| Ali Dawood | 4.0 | 7/19 | bahrain | bhutan | 11 December 2025 |
| Harsh Bhardwaj | 4.0 | 6/3 | Singapore | mongolia | 5 September 2024 |
| peter aho | 3.4 | 6/5 | Nigeria | Sierra Leone | 24 October 2021 |
| Deepak Chahar | 3.2 | 6/7 | India | bangladesh | 10 November 2019 |
Only two bowlers have taken seven wickets in men’s T20 Internationals. Sayazrul Idrus took 7 for 8 for Malaysia against China in 2023, while Ali Dawood took 7 for 19 for Bahrain against Bhutan in 2025.
This feat has also been achieved twice outside international cricket. Colin Ackerman took 7 for 18 for Leicestershire against Birmingham Bears in 2019, and Taskin Ahmed took 7 for 19 for Darbar Rajshahi against Dhaka Capitals in 2025.
In women’s T20I, Rohmalia took 0 for 7 for Indonesia against Mongolia in 2024. Only three other women have taken seven wickets in T20Is: Frederica Overdijk (7 for 3 against France), Alison Stocks (7 for 3 against Peru), and Samanthi Dunukedeniya (7 for 15 against Czech Republic).
Who is Sonam Yeshi?
Sonam Yeshe is a 22-year-old left-arm orthodox spinner from Bhutan, born on 3 December 2003. He has notably represented Bhutan in T20 Internationals and has become a regular member of the national team in the shortest format.
He made his T20I debut against Malaysia in July 2022 and impressed with 3 wickets for 16 runs. Since then, he has taken 37 wickets in 34 T20 Internationals.
Yeshi’s standout moment came with an extraordinary eight-wicket haul, the best performance of his career and one of the most remarkable spells in T20 cricket history.
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