NEW DELHI: New Zealand pacer Lockie Ferguson wreaked havoc, producing the best-ever spell in a T20 International in the Group C clash against Papua New Guinea in Trinidad on Monday.
The right-arm speedster was at his absolute best against minnows PNG in New Zealand's final game of the T20 World Cup.
In an unbelievable spell, Ferguson bowled a record 24 dot balls and picked up three wickets for an unprecedented figures of 4-4-0-3.
Ferguson's spell is now the most economical 4-over spell in T20Is ever.
With the record-shattering figures, the 33-year-old bettered the record of Canada’s Saad Bin Zafar -- 4-4-0-2 -- which he got against Panama at Coolidge in 2021.
Ferguson's magical spell included wickets of Assad Vala (6), Charles Amini (17) and Chad Soper (1).
His figures are now also the best-ever (in terms of economy) at T20 World Cups.
3/0 - Lockie Ferguson (New Zealand) vs Papua New Guinea, Tarouba, 2024*
3/4 - Tim Southee (New Zealand) vs Uganda, Tarouba, 2024
2/4 - Frank Nsubuga (Uganda) vs Papua New Guinea, Guyana, 2024
4/7 - Anrich Nortje (South Africa) vs Sri Lanka, New York, 2024
2/7 - Trent Boult (New Zealand) vs Uganda, Tarouba, 2024
Ferguson run-less three-fer helped New Zealand bowl out Papua New Guinea for a lowly 78 in the inconsequential game.
Asked to bat first, PNG struggled throughout their innings and kept losing wickets at regular intervals.
Charles Amini was PNG's top-scorer with 17, while there were two wickets apiece for Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Ish Sodhi.
Brief scores:
Papua New Guinea: 78 all out in 19.4 overs (Lockie Ferguson 3/0, Tim Southee 2/11, Trent Boult 2/14).
