Shakib surpasses Southee to become leading T20I wicket-taker

Chattogram, March 29 (IANS) Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan became the leading wicket-taker in T20I cricket during his match-winning 5/22 in the second T20I against Ireland here on Wednesday.

He claimed figures of 5-22 from his 4 overs to go past New Zealand's Tim Southee to become the bowler with the most T20I wickets.

Shakib's total tally reached 136 wickets in T20I, two more than Southee's 134, 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 36-year-old reached the landmark after trapping George Dockrell leg-before off the third ball of the sixth over. When he castled Harry Tector three balls later, Shakib reached his second career five-for in this format.

The Bangladesh star made his T20I debut back in 2006 against Zimbabwe, and went on to play 114 T20Is. He has featured in all seven editions of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup.

On the match front, Litton Das and Rony Talukdar's blistering opening partnership of 124 runs off 56 along with late-innings cameo from Shakib (38* of 24) took Bangladesh to 202-3 in the rain-shortened game.

In response, Ireland slipped to 43-6 at the end of the powerplay, thanks to a devastating five-for from the Bangladesh skipper, which completed a brilliant all-round individual performance.

Ireland narrowly managed to avoid being bowled out and finished their innings on 125-9 with the help of Curtis Campher's fighting fifty and the hosts took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series as they stormed to a 77-run victory.

Earlier, rainfall in Chattogram led to the proceedings starting late as the match was reduced to 17 overs per side.

While the series result is decided, the final match of the series is set to take place on Friday.

--IANs

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