TAROUBA (Trinidad and Tobago): New Zealand speedster Lockie Ferguson delivered the most economical spell in the history of the ICC T20 World Cup and T20I cricket in general on Monday.
Ferguson achieved some unprecedented, never-seen-before figures during his side’s T20 WC game in group stage against Papua New Guinea at Tarouba on Monday.
During the game, Lockie delivered his full quota of four overs and took three wickets. The most astonishing part of this spell was, the speedster not giving even a single run to the opposition.
Ferguson outdid his teammate and pacer Tim Southee, who delivered an incredible spell of 3/4 in four overs against Uganda in their team’s previous T20 World Cup encounter on June 14.
This is also the most economical spell of all time in all of T20I cricket, outdoing Canada’s Saad Bin Zafar’s spell of two wickets for zero runs in four overs against Panama back in 2021.
Coming to the match, the Kiwis opted to bowl first after winning the toss. With Charles Amini (17), Norman Vanua (14) and Sese Bau (12) crossing the double-figure mark, PNG managed to make 78/10 in 19.4 overs.
Tim Southee (2/11), Trent Boult (2/14), Ish Sodhi (2/29) and Mitchell Santner (1/17) also delivered fine bowling spells for Kiwis.
In Group C, NZ is at the third place with a win and two losses to the West Indies and Afghanistan. With a win in this game, the Kiwis will be able to salvage some period and walk out of their worst World Cup showing across 50-over and 20-over formats in years with their heads up.
New Zealand (Playing XI): Finn Allen, Devon Conway(w), Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson(c), Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult
Papua New Guinea (Playing XI): Tony Ura, Assad Vala(c), Charles Amini, Sese Bau, Hiri Hiri, Chad Soper, Kiplin Doriga(w), Norman Vanua, Alei Nao, Kabua Morea, Semo Kamea. (ANI)