Abu Dhabi: Ireland’s Curit Campher Monday claimed four wickets in four consecutive deliveries at the T20 World Cup, joining a select band of two bowlers to achieve his historic feat in white-ball cricket.
Only on three occasions have bowlers claimed four wickets in four consecutive balls in white-ball cricket and Campher’s superb spell helped Ireland bowl out the Netherlands for 106 in 20 overs in a Group A match at the T20 World Cup here Monday.
Campher claimed the wickets of Colin Ackermann (11), Ryan ten Doeschate (0), Scott Edwards (0), and Roelof van der Merwe off consecutive balls, joining the elite club that includes Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga, who achieved this feat twice — once against South Africa in 2007 ODI World Cup and then against New Zealand in T20I in 2019, and Rashid Khan of Afghanistan, who claimed four in four balls against Ireland in a T20I in 2019. Campher thus became the third bowler to achieve this feat.
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Campher’s astonishing four-wicket haul came in the tenth over of the innings after the Netherlands had won the toss and chose to bat first.
A solid partnership between Max O’Dowd and Colin Ackermann seemed to be leading the Netherlands to a workable total after they had Ben Cooper run out of the first delivery of the match, But Campher had other ideas, taking a remarkable four wickets in four balls to rip through the Dutch middle-order.
The 22-year-old right-armer picked up Ackermann, ten Doeschate, Edwards, and van der Merwe in four consecutive balls in his second over and the tenth of the innings to put Ireland firmly in control and leave the Dutch 52/6. Akermann was caught behind by keeper Neil Rock, ten Doeschate and Edwards were trapped lbw while van der Merwe was bowled as Campher made a huge impact.
Campher became the third man in T20I history to take four in four, and the first to do so in a T20 World Cup match. Only Rashid Khan and Lasith Malinga have also managed the feat in T20Is, both in 2019.
That the Netherlands still managed to post 106’after Campher’s four-wicket over was largely down to the fea’s of opener O’Dowd and all-rounders Pieter Seelaar and Logan van Beek. But captain Seelar and Van Beek picked up the baton at the death, registering 21 (29) and 11 (12) respectively to carry the Netherlands to 106 all out, with the last wicket falling off the final ball – a disappointing tally but one that could have been far worse after Campher’s heroics.
Campher finished with figures of 4/26 from his four overs, with Mark Adair also impressing with the ball, claiming three wickets for nine runs, the most economical figures ever recorded by an Ireland bowler in men’s T20 internationals. The former fell just after registering his half-century, dismissed by the exceptional Mark Adair for an impressive 51 of 47 balls.
