LEICESTER – Leicestershire Foxes captain Colin Ackermann set a new Twenty20 bowling record on Wednesday by taking seven wickets for 18 runs (7/18) in his team’s victory over Birmingham Bears in the T20 Blast.
The off-spinner’s haul surpassed the previous record of six wickets for five runs set by Somerset all-rounder Arul Suppiah while bowling against Glamorgan in July 2011.
The 28-year-old Ackermann plays for the Warriors franchise in South Africa.
His previous best figures in the format were 3/21, but he took six of his seven wickets in two overs as Leicestershire won by 55 runs, and said afterwards that could not quite believe he had broken the record.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/leicsccc?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@leicscccbeat Birmingham Bears
Scorecard: https://t.co/3oN5aWogb9 pic.twitter.com/Aww6Q9d2mt
— Vitality Blast (@VitalityBlast)
“It hasn’t really sunk in yet,” he told the BBC. “It was a great all-round performance from the team to set the game up for the bowlers.”
Earlier in the match, Harry Swindells and Lewis Hill both struck half-centuries to help Leicestershire reach 189/6.
0️⃣3️⃣4️⃣W0️⃣1️⃣0️⃣1️⃣1️⃣1️⃣1️⃣1️⃣W2️⃣W0️⃣W0️⃣W1️⃣1️⃣W1️⃣W
— Vitality Blast (@VitalityBlast) August 7, 2019
Colin Ackermann takes 7/18 - the best bowling figures in T20 history
➡️ https://t.co/afo2WOG7iX pic.twitter.com/BLgpf0H2F1
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/leicsccc?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@leicsccccaptain Colin Ackermann claimed 7/18 yesterday. Will we see better at the T20 World Cup next year? 👀 pic.twitter.com/f3cVEGIUZu
— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup)