Rashid Khan becomes first cricketer to take 700 wickets in T20s

New Delhi [India], February 16 (ANI): Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan became the first player to achieve 700 T20 wickets during Afghanistan's group-stage match against the United Arab Emirates (UAE), being played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Monday.

He got one wicket in the match, conceding 24 runs in his four overs as Afghanistan halted the UAE to 160/9 in 20 overs after inviting them to bat first.

The 27-year-old Afghanistan skipper achieved the feat during the 16th over in the first innings when he dismissed Muhammad Arfan by a hit-wicket. Arfan made zero runs off two balls, before his wicket while trying a reverse sweep against the ace spinner.

Afghan spinner is way ahead of any other cricketer in terms of wickets in the shortest format. Retired West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo is in second place with 631 wickets. Among the active players, Sunil Narine is behind Rashid with 613 wickets and is third overall in the list.

Rashid is also the leading wicket-taker in the T20 Internationals with 191 wickets. The second place is occupied by retired New Zealand seamer Tim Southee (164), and his compatriot Ish Sodhi is in third place with 162 wickets. Sodhi is part of the Black Caps in this tournament.

Afghanistan are looking to chase down a modest target of 161 runs to remain alive in the race for the Super 8 of the competition.

Azmatullah Omarzai was the best bowler for Afghanistan as he picked up four wickets while conceding 15 runs in his four overs. Mujeeb Ur Rahman also took a couple of wickets.

Alishan Sharafu made 40 runs off 31 balls, and Sohaib Khan's 68 runs off 48 balls helped the UAE set a challenging target for the Afghans as they are still searching for their first win of the tournament.

Afghanistan's last group-stage fixture is against Canada, scheduled for Thursday in Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium. (ANI)

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