No.10 Lockie Ferguson, 4-4-0-3 vs Papua New Guinea, Tarouba, June 17

True, it was against Papua New Guinea in a match with little context, for both sides had been knocked out. But then, some statistics are so astonishing that they cut their way through the ranks. On that day, Ferguson attained T20 bowling perfection. No team had bowled four maiden overs in the same men’s T20 World Cup match before this: Ferguson did that on his own. In all men’s T20, only two others had bowled four maiden overs until then.

No.9 Varun Chakravarthy, 4-0-17-5 vs South Africa, Gqeberha, November 10

South Africa must have hoped to equalise the series after restricting India to 124-6 and reaching 33-1. Enter Varun. Aiden Markram and Reeza Hendricks fell to beautiful googlies. South Africa decided to play him out and reached 64-3 in the process, but Varun struck again, taking out Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, and David Miller in the space of four balls. India were on top at 86-7, but Varun had run out of overs. South Africa scraped home.

No.8 Anrich Nortje 4-0-7-4 vs Sri Lanka, New York, June 3

The World Cup’s first taste of the much-debated New York pitch. The Sri Lankans struggled against some incisive fast bowling. Realising how difficult strokeplay was on the pitch, Nortje took the pace off the ball. Kamindu Mendis, Kusal Mendis, and Charith Asalanka fell, unable to time the ball. Nortje later got Angelo Mathews as well as Sri Lanka collapsed to 77. At that point, it was the most economical four-over spell in the history of the T20 World Cup.

No.7 Kushal Bhurtel 4-0-19-4 v South Africa, Kingstown, June 14

South Africa survived couple of early blows to reach 74-2, but now they had to contend with Bhurtel’s leg-breaks. The first double-strike accounted for Markram and Klaasen; the second, Jansen and Kagiso Rabada. Trying to hit their way out, South Africa crawled to 115-7 – and won by a solitary run.

No.6 Jasprit Bumrah 4-0-14-3 v Pakistan, New York, June 9

To win, Pakistan needed only 120. After 14 overs, only 40, with seven wickets in hand. With the first ball, Bumrah – he had Babar Azam early in his spell – bowled Mohammad Rizwan, albeit when a questionable stroke went wrong. Many would have gone flat out in search of wickets. Not Bumrah. He trusted his defensive bowling, pitching the ball just short of a length, and leaving the batters guessing amidst the vagaries of the pitch. As the asking rate mounted, Iftikhar Ahmed slogged and fell, and the noose tightened further. Pakistan ran out of overs, not wickets.

No.5 Nuwan Thushara 5-20 v Bangladesh, Sylhet, March 9

They do not make many T20 spells better than Thushara’s. His hat-trick on that day was truly Malingaesque: it is difficult to tell which of the three balls – three slingshots hurled at three right-handers, resulting in two bowled, one LBW – was the most devastating. When he got the left-handed Soumya Sarkar, he produced another peach to bowl him neck and crop. All of this, within his first nine balls.

No.4 Saurabh Netravalkar 4-0-18-2 and Super Over v Pakistan, New York, June 6

Netravalkar may thank Steven Taylor for the astonishing slip catch that got Rizwan. The beautifully disguised slower ball that got Iftikhar, on the other hand, was his doing, just like the subtle variations of pace, particularly in the powerplay. He was needed again, for the Super Over, when he came out to defend 19. He got Iftikhar again, and kept Pakistan to only nine to complete one of the greatest World Cup results.

No.3 Gulbadin Naib 4-0-18-4 v Australia, Kingstown, June 22

Australia do not play Afghanistan in bilateral series but do face them in World Cups. When they met the last time, Afghanistan had almost pulled off a fairytale win, only to be thwarted by Glenn Maxwell. It was different this time. Chasing 149, Australia were comfortably placed at 71-3 in the 11th over when Naib, the eighth bowler into the attack, stepped up. His last two wickets, of Glenn Maxwell and Pat Cummins, were of particular significance: the ghosts of Wankhede 2023 had finally been exorcised.

No.2 Rashid Khan 4-0-23-4 v Bangladesh, Kingstown, June 24

After Afghanistan made only 115-5 in this virtual quarter-final, Bangladesh needed to chase down the target in 12.1 overs. And things began to look ominous after Bangladesh got 13 in the first. But the Afghan seamers struck, and for some reason, Bangladesh abandoned semi-final hopes and were content to settle for a win, which would have knocked Afghanistan out.

Rashid came on with 70 to defend in 84 balls, and struck twice with his first eight balls to bring Afghanistan into the game. He struck twice more in his next over to leave Bangladesh reeling at 80-7. The game stopped, started, stopped again, and started again amidst Naib’s antics – but there was no stopping Rashid and his team that day. The semi-final berth was the culmination of a two-decade journey against all odds.

No.1 Jasprit Bumrah 4-0-18-2 v South Africa, Bridgetown, June 29

Bumrah had bowled Reeza Hendricks with his third ball – a peach, no less – but that seemed a long time in the past when a desperate Rohit Sharma deviated from the usual Indian plan by recalling him in the 16th over, before usual time. With only 30 left, Klaasen and Miller were content to pick four runs. After Hardik Pandya took out Klaasen, Bumrah continued, this time to defend 22 in three overs. After Miller ran a single, all Jansen had to do was play out the over – but Bumrah still broke through his defence. Only two came off the over.

Bumrah’s day was done with that astonishing spell that included 2-0-5-1 in overs 15 and 17. It was left to his teammates to defend 20 in two overs to end India’s barren World Cup run. They did.

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