Mohammad Irfan broke the world record for the most economical spell in the history of T20 cricket by bowling 23 consecutive dot balls in a Caribbean Premiere League match on Sunday but miraculously, his side Barbados Tridents still ended up losing the match to Saint Kitts and Nevis Patriots.
The 7-foot-tall Pakistan fast bowler gave away 1 run in his four-over spell to return with staggering figures of 4 overs 3 maidens 1 for 2 in Bridgetown. Irfan conceded the solitary on his last ball of the spell. Irfan’s economy rate of 0.25 bettered the previous four-over best of 0.5 bowled by Chris Morris for the Cape Cobras in South Africa’s Ram Slam in November 2014, and by Chanaka Welegedara for Tamil Union in Sri Lanka in April 2015.
Irfan already accounted for Patriots’ openers Chris Gayle (0) and Evin Lewis (4) in his first two overs.
Defending a paltry target of 147, Irfan gave the Tridents the ideal start by removing danger man Gayle off the first ball for a golden duck. He then gave another body blow to the Patriots by nipping out Lewis in his second over, reducing them to 7 for two in 3 overs.
However, an 88-run stand for the third wicket between Brandon King and Devon Thomas bailed the Patriots out of trouble. King slammed his maiden CPL fifty going on to score 60 in 49 balls that included four sixes off a Steve Smith over. His innings ensured the Patriots a victory by six wickets with seven balls to spare.
Earlier, the Tridents posted 6-147 courtesy of a half-century from Jason Holder (54 off 35), helped by 26 off 24 from compatriot Shai Hope.