The New Zealand bowler Lockie Ferguson has made an unbreakable record with the most economical figures in the history of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 match against Papua New Guinea at Brian Lara Stadium.
Lockie Ferguson Creates History bowling four Maiden overs
Lockie Ferguson bowled four overs, conceded zero runs picking 3 wickets, and created a new world record in the format. Till now Saad Bin Zafar was the only men’s cricketer in history to bowl a full set of four overs without conceding a run. He created this record during the match against Panama in 2021.
4️⃣ OVERS 4️⃣ MAIDENS 🤯
Lockie Ferguson becomes the first bowler in Men’s #T20WorldCup history to bowl four maidens in a match 👏#NZvPNG | Read On ➡️ https://t.co/zOfpaMPB18 pic.twitter.com/zqE8ADZEt0
— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) June 17, 2024
Ferguson becomes the second to do so and the first ever in the T20 World Cup. Lockie Ferguson picked the wicket of Assad Valada in the very first ball in the match. He dismissed Valada for 6 runs in the powerplay and bagged the wicket of Charles Amini for 17 runs. After dismissing Chad Soper for one run, he finished this third wicket with the 14th over of the innings.
Coming to the tournament, New Zealand was knocked out after suffering defeats at the hands of Afghanistan and West Indies in group-stage matches. They won the match against Uganda and were scheduled to play their last group-stage match against Papua New Guinea. Ahead of the final match, Kiwi bowler Trent Boult has confirmed his retirement from T20 World Cup.
Coming to the match, the rain delayed the toss. Despite the delay, the match didn’t lose overs. New Zealand won the toss and opted to bowl. Tony Ura and Assad Vala opened the innings while Trent Boult opened the bowling attack.
Bowling the second over, Tim Southee picked the wicket of Tony Ura for one run. He was sent out on a full outswing delivery where Ura moved to the leg side and swung it behind backward points and Phillips ran back to take catch.
With Assad, Vala was sent out for 6 runs by Lockie Ferguson in the fifth over of the match, Papua New Guinea scored only 14 runs. Charles Amini and Sese Bau forged hands to take a partnership stand but Lockie Ferguson struck again as he dismissed Amini for 17 runs.
He was sent out on an lbw and Mitchell Santner picked the wicket of Sese Bau for 12 runs. He was caught off in a delivery where he struck it straight to long on. With Trent Boult dismissed Hiri Hiri for 7 runs Lockie Ferguson picked his third wicket in the match by dismissing Chad Soper for one run. With the dismissal of Kiplin Doriga for 5 runs, Papua New Guinea lost seven wickets for 61 runs.
Norman Vanua scored 14 runs before being dismissed by Boult. Ish Sodhi picked the wickets of Alei Nao and Kabua Morea for 3 and a duck. Papua New Guinea scored 78 runs and lost all 10 wickets with two balls remaining.
With a target of 79, New Zealand openers Finn Allen and Devon Conway opened the innings where the former was sent out on a duck in the second ball of the first over by Kabua Morea.
Kabua Morea bagged the wicket of Rachin Ravindra for 6 runs in the fifth over while Devon Conway continued to bat to score 35 runs. With his dismissal by Semo Kamea, Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell scored 18* and 19* to complete the match in the 13th over. New Zealand scored 79 runs losing three wickets in the 13th over of the match.
