Mitchell Starc doesn’t have his name against it. Josh Hazlewood and Meghan Schutt don’t hold it against theirs, either. Anisa Mohammed doesn’t have it against her name as well. And the same goes for Steyn, Perry, Ashwin, Jhulan, Ishant, Brunt, Amir, Poonam, van Niekerk, and the likes. The record for registering the best bowling figures in a T20 international doesn’t belong to any of the world’s T20 teams, barring one but to a Nepali girl Anjali Chand.
When Nepal’s Women walked over their counterparts the Maldives in South Asia Games, 2019 as if it were a child’s play, a relatively unknown cricketer rose from relative obscurity and stamped her name against a record all would envy.
Nepali Girl Anjali Chand registers an illustrious feat
The record for the best bowling figures in T20 international sports the name of a Nepali girl Anjali Chand. The bright youngster did something never previously achieved in the top annals of the game. In taking 6 wickets from a spell of 2.1 overs without conceding a single run, Anjali Chand made her mark in the cricket-loving world as the only bowler- male or female- to possess the record for the best bowling figures in a T20 international.
Anjali came into the bowl in the seventh over and from that point on, it was to be a spiral downfall for the Maldives side.
Some might call this occurrence a freak episode of genius. The others might hail it for its record-breaking might. But it must be remembered that at a time where Women’s Cricket is rising gradually but steadily, it is feats like these that will make the sport a long mile.
Implicit in the record of the best bowling figures in a T20 international was Anjali Chand’s single-handed demolition of a side her Nepal Women’s unit made light work of.
It’s not always that in the format of the game renowned for producing big fireworks and thundering strikes, a collective team total, upon the conclusion of an inning reads 16.
That’s right. That is all that The Maldives Women’s side could manage when Nepal’s 24-year-old went on to single-handedly disrupt the opposition line up.
So badly were The Maldives side struggling that the top eight batters returned to the pavilion failing to open their account. Only 2 were able to reach single-digit scores, resulting in a total that was pitiable and truth be told, rather surprising.
In return, Nepal’s chase got off to a flier as the women were able to chase down the paltry ask of 17 inside the opening over itself.
But what one must understand is the wider picture that the women’s game has reached the best of the incredible feat of Chand registering the best bowling figures in a T20 international.
At a time where every bit of a push is a massive stride toward popularizing the women’s game, a format that soared in wider popularity at the back of the 2017 World Cup (50-overs), the best bowling figures in a T20 international is a record that will hopefully take the sport a long way.
It’s a feat that is as exciting as it is exhilarating. It also then catapults the talented and dynamic force that is Nepal Women’s Cricket.