Rashid Khan first to 200 T20I wickets, 29 clear of Adil Rashid, in his 120th match against Zimbabwe

Rashid Khan has become the first bowler to take 200 wickets in men's T20 internationals. The Afghanistan captain reached the mark in his 120th T20I, the second match of the series against Zimbabwe at Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Thursday 29 October, Dawn reported.

The 200th wicket was Zimbabwe opener Tadiwanashe Marumani, lbw for 2 in the ninth over.

Rashid Khan's T20I record

He leads the all-time list by 29 wickets from England's leg-spinner Adil Rashid, who is second. Rashid was already the first Afghan to 200 ODI wickets, a mark he reached against Bangladesh in Abu Dhabi last October.

What 200 in 120 matches means

That is 1.67 wickets a match, at an economy that most T20 bowlers never get near. An average under 14 means he concedes fewer than 14 runs for every wicket he takes, across a decade in which T20 scoring rates have risen sharply.

The Pakistan connection

Rashid has been a fixture in the Pakistan Super League and is the leg-spinner Pakistan's batters see most often in Asia Cups and World Cups. The race for the No. 1 ranking is close too: last month Pakistan's Abrar Ahmed went top of the ICC T20I bowling rankings, one point ahead of Rashid (our report).

Pakistan's Asia Cup fixtures and results, where Rashid's Afghanistan are regular opponents, are on our Asia Cup page.