Rashid Khan Becomes First Men's Bowler to Take 200 T20I Wickets in His 120th Match

Rashid Khan has become the first men's bowler to take 200 wickets in T20 Internationals. The Afghanistan leg-spinner reached the milestone in his 120th T20I. It came against Zimbabwe in the second T20I at Sharjah on Thursday, October 29.

Rashid came into the match on 199 wickets from 119 games. He needed one more. He got it in the ninth over of Zimbabwe's chase. He trapped opener Tadiwanashe Marumani lbw for 2. That was wicket number 200. It was Rashid's only wicket of the night. He finished with 1 for 29 from his four overs.

The record puts him far clear at the top of the all-time list. England's Adil Rashid is second, 29 wickets behind. Rashid Khan has also reached the mark in about 30 fewer matches than Adil Rashid has played. He did it at the age of 28. He made his T20I debut against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo in 2015, so the milestone came against the same opponent.

His numbers are very strong. Rashid has an average of about 14 and an economy rate of just over 6. He has taken nine four-wicket hauls and two five-wicket hauls. His best figures are 5 for 3. Of his 200 wickets, 198 have come for Afghanistan in 119 matches. About 143 of them have come at neutral venues.

This is not the first big landmark for him. In October last year, he became the first Afghan bowler to take 200 wickets in One Day Internationals. He did that against Bangladesh in Abu Dhabi.

The match itself was a thriller. Afghanistan were in trouble early at 5 for 4. Then Azmatullah Omarzai hit 116 off 50 balls. It was his maiden T20I century. Afghanistan finished on 221 for 7. Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza replied with an unbeaten 106, which made him the oldest man to score a T20I hundred at 40. Zimbabwe ended on 202 for 5, 19 runs short.

The win gave Afghanistan an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. For Rashid, the night will be remembered for the 200th wicket. It is a record that no other men's bowler has come close to reaching.