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Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan has surpassed Tim Southee to become the leading wicket-taker in the T20I format.
His fifer allowed him to get past New Zealand's veteran bowler Tim Southee. Shakib has 136 wickets in 114 T20I matches. On the other hand, Tim Southee has 134 wickets just two shy of Shakib's tally, according to data from International Cricket Council (ICC). Shakib claimed this record by picking up a five-wicket haul against Ireland on Wednesday. Lorcan Tucker became his first victim in the first ball of the second over. After getting his first wicket Shakib went on a roll, as Ireland players failed to understand the mysteries hidden behind his bowling style. George Dockrell became his fifth wicket as Shakib managed to trap him right in front of the wicket. Dockrell's wicket marked Shakib's prowess over the Ireland batters. He has 136 wickets in T20I cricket at an average of 20.67 with an economy rate of 6.8. Besides, he also has 2339 runs at a strike rate of 122.33. The Bangladesh star made his T20I debut all the way back in 2006 against Zimbabwe and has gone on to play 114 T20Is. He has featured in all seven editions of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup. After the match, Shakib revealed the trick that allowed him to take an advantage over the bowlers in the post-match conference, "When I batted, it spun when Tector bowled slowly. So I thought that there was something for the spinners and decided to start with spin. If you're a good team, when you go to Australia or England, they always try to win 3-0 if they're up 2-0, we'll try the same. No chance of us being complacent. We might try a few new players but they'll be just as hungry to do well," Shakib said. He further went on to describe his emotions and the emphasis on securing the series against Ireland in front of their home crowd. "Feels good to be on top as a Bangladeshi. We wanted to put up the same performance we did in the past few games and we did it well. If we want to be a great side, we have to go out there and express ourselves from ball one. That's what we discussed and agreed that's how we're going to play," Shakib continued. Bangladesh will face Ireland in the final match of the series on Friday at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium. (ANI)
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