Indian-origin cricketer Anuradha Doddaballapur, captain of the German cricket team, has made history by taking four wickets in four balls in a match against Austria. Her feat helped Germany win by 137 runs in the fourth T20 international of their Austrian tour.
This marks the first time in women’s T20 international cricket that a bowler has taken four wickets in four consecutive deliveries.
She finished with an incredible 5/1, surpassing Lasith Malinga’s 5/6 against New Zealand in 2019. This gives Doddaballapur the record of best T20I figures by a captain. This feat has only previously been done by Sri Lanka’s Malinga and Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan.
In this series against Austria, the German women’s team broke a number of records and won all five of their matches. The T20 series also marked return of women’s international cricket since the ICC T20 World Cup 2020 final between India and Australia, held in Melbourne Cricket Ground back in March.
“I’d like to thank everyone at Austria cricket for hosting us despite the current circumstances. We are excited to take the field again after a seemingly long break,” 33-year-old Doddaballapur had said at the beginning of the series.
The German team, known as the ‘Golden Eagles’ and led by Doddaballapur, rank 27 in the ICC T20I women’s rankings. They last played an international match in February against Oman, as part of a 4-0 series clean sweep.
According to a recent ICC media release, women’s cricket is growing rapidly, with overall participation increasing 155 per cent since 2016.
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