Ferguson does the (almost) unimaginable, returns 4-4-0-3 vs PNG

New Zealand fast bowler Lockie Ferguson has become the second bowler in T20Is and the first at a men’s T20 World Cup to bowl four maiden overs in a spell.

On Monday, he finished with magical figures of 4-4-0-3 against Papua New Guinea in New Zealand’s last group-stage match in the T20 World Cup 2024. It’s also New Zealand’s last match in the tournament, as they were knocked out following losses to Afghanistan and West Indies.

The only other bowler to have achieved the feat is Canada’s Saad Bin Zafar, who finished with 4-4-0-2 against Panama in a T20 World Cup Americas Region Qualifier match in Coolidge in 2021.

Coming on to bowl in the fifth over after New Zealand opted to field in Tarouba after a rain delay, Ferguson had PNG captain Assad Vala caught at first slip off the very first ball he bowled. He kept the new batter, Sese Bau, quiet for the rest of the over, and came back in the seventh over to do the same, bowling six dots to Bau.

He returned to bowl the 12th over and struck on the second ball, pinning Charles Amini in front for 17 with a length ball that stayed low – it was given not out, but was confirmed to be hitting the stumps after a review. Ferguson then got his third and final wicket off the second ball of his last over, the 14th of the innings, getting Chad Soper to edge one on to his stumps for 1. PNG got two runs off that over but those were leg-byes.

“Obviously a tough wicket to bat on, so nice from my point of view to get on a wicket like that,” Ferguson, the Player of the Match, said on the official broadcast after the game. “There was some swing, which was nice today too.”

The match started after a spell of rain, following which New Zealand restricted PNG to 78 in 19.4 overs.