Lockie Ferguson creates record of most economical spell in T20I histroy

New Zealand pacer Lockie Ferguson entered the history books here on Monday, recording the most economical spell for any bowler in T20I history, that too in a World Cup fixture, returning with figures of 4-4-0-3 against Papua New Guinea.

Ferguson's stunning spell saw him becoming only the second bowler in the history of the format to have sent down each of the four overs allotted to a player as maidens, joining Canada's Saad Bin Zafar in the process.

Zafar had recorded 4-4-0-2 against Canada in November 2021 during T20 World Cup Americas Regional qualifier match, but Ferguson bettered his numbers.

The right-arm New Zealand pacer struck on the first ball of his spell to remove PNG captain Assad Vala for six, which set the tone for his following overs as the opposition batters went into a shell.

While PNG batters struggled for strike rotation, Ferguson maintained a tight line with pace and slight movement off the surface to make their job tougher.

On the second ball of the 12th over, the right-arm pacer pinned Charles Amini in front of the wickets for his second success and in the 14th, he found an inside edge off Chad Soper's (1) bat which pegged back the off-stump with the ball angled sharply into the batter.

While PNG batters scrambled for a couple of runs right after Soper's dismissals, they came off leg-byes.

Even though this game has no consequence given both New Zealand and PNG are out of the tournament, Ferguson's best-ever figures in T20Is during a World Cup fixture turned out to be a solace for the Kiwis.