Sikandar Raza creates history in T20 World Cup clash against South Africa, becomes first captain to reach this milestone

Sports Tak

Sports Tak

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Sikandar Raza of Zimbabwe gestures as he scores a half-century during the Super Eights match of the 2026 ICC Men's T20 World Cup between Zimbabwe and South Africa in New Delhi (Getty)
Sikandar Raza of Zimbabwe gestures as he scores a half-century during the Super Eights match of the 2026 ICC Men's T20 World Cup between Zimbabwe and South Africa in New Delhi (Getty)

Story Highlights:

South Africa defeated Zimbabwe by five wickets.

Sikandar Raza picked by three wickets against Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza has created history during their T20 World Cup 2026 clash against South Africa, becoming the first skipper ever to score a half-century and take three wickets in a men’s T20 World Cup match.

In Zimbabwe’s final Super 8 clash against South Africa at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, Raza scored a brilliant 73 off 43 balls. Later, he also shone with the ball, finishing with figures of 3 for 29 from his four overs.

Overall, Raza is now the fifth player in T20 World Cup history to score a fifty and pick up at least three wickets in the same match. The others to achieve this feat are Dwayne Bravo, Shane Watson, Marcus Stoinis and Roston Chase.

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Players to score 50 and take 3 wickets in a T20 World Cup match

PLAYER COUNTRY RUNS BOWLING FIGURES AGAINST VENUE YEAR
Dwayne Bravo West Indies 66* 4/38 India Lord’s 2009
Shane Watson Australia 51 3/26 Ireland Colombo (RPS) 2012
Shane Watson Australia 72 3/34 India Colombo (RPS) 2012
Marcus Stoinis Australia 67* 3/19 Oman Bridgetown 2024
Roston Chase West Indies 52 3/12 South Africa North Sound 2024
Sikandar Raza Zimbabwe 73 3/29 South Africa Delhi 2026

Raza's bowling

Batting at number four, Raza led from the front. He struck eight fours and four sixes during his innings. He built important partnerships as well, adding 38 runs for the third wicket and 39 runs for the sixth wicket with Clive Madande. His efforts helped Zimbabwe post a competitive total of 153 for 7 in their 20 overs.

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Raza's bowling

Raza then made an early impact with the ball. He opened the bowling and struck in the very first over of South Africa’s chase. On the third ball, he dismissed Quinton de Kock, who is South Africa’s highest run-scorer in T20 internationals. De Kock was caught behind by wicketkeeper Tadiwanashe Marumani without scoring.

In his next over, Raza struck again. He bowled Aiden Markram for just four runs. Markram had been South Africa’s leading run-scorer in the 2026 T20 World Cup.

Raza’s third wicket came in the 11th over when Dewald Brevis tried to go for a big shot but was caught by Ryan Burl in the deep. Even though Zimbabwe eventually ended their T20 World Cup campaign with a five-wicket defeat.