Wanindu Hasaranga surpasses Shahid Afridi in major T20 World Cup record despite hamstring issue vs Ireland
Wanindu Hasaranga battled a hamstring issue to take 3/25 against Ireland, putting up a strong performance in Sri Lanka's T20 World Cup 2026 opener. Hasaranga surpassed Shahid Afridi in a huge record with his strong performance against Ireland.
Sri Lanka star Wanindu Hasaranga surpassed former Pakistan cricketer Shahid Afridi in a major record in the T20 World Cups despite battling hamstring issues in his team's World Cup opener against Ireland on Sunday, February 8.
Hasaranga starred with the ball as he picked up three wickets in his four overs for 25 runs in Sri Lanka's close 20-run win over the Irish side. Hasaranga was battling with hamstring issues right after bowling his second ball of the match, and his follow-through was hampered due to his issue.
However, he left a huge impact and was a cornerstone in Sri Lanka, making Ireland collapse in the last few overs of the 164-run chase. He removed the likes of Ross Adair, Harry Tector and Curtis Campher as he put up a stellar performance with the ball.
With his efforts, the wily spinner has surpassed Pakistan's iconic all-rounder Shahid Afridi in the list for most wickets taken in T20 World Cups. Coming into the tournament, Hasaranga had 37 wickets to his name and was behind the likes of Afridi, Lasith Malinga and Rashid Khan, but surpassed all of them in one go with his three-wicket haul. The all-rounder is now only behind Shakib Al Hasan.
Most wickets in T20 World Cups:
1 - Shakib Al Hasan: 50 wickets in 43 matches
2 - Wanindu Hasaranga: 40 wickets in 20 matches
3 - Shahid Afridi: 39 wickets in 34 matches
4 - Lasith Malinga: 38 wickets in 31 matches
5 - Rashid Khan: 38 wickets in 24 matches
Ireland go down to Sri Lanka
Ireland gave the 2014 champions a good fight, but they could not beat them after suffering a massive collapse in the end. From 105/2 after 14.1 overs and needing 59 runs from the remaining overs, they got bowled out for 143 as they lost their last eight wickets for just 38 runs.
The Irish side also dropped several chances, as it later went on to haunt them. They dropped as many as four official chances, with some other misjudged opportunities also going down. Captain Stirling conceded that the drop chances and the 20 runs proved costly for them. "A little bit sloppy in the field, which is disappointing, but plenty of areas that we need to come back with in a couple of days' time against Australia. Yeah, look, I think experience told today. Sri Lankan teams at the end, in both innings, I think that was the difference really. Those 20 runs certainly they defended well at the backend," he said after the match.