Nida Dar scripts history with 137 T20I wickets

LAHORE: Captain and all-rounder Nida Dar etched her name in history by becoming the leading wicket-taker in women’s T20 internationals, achieving a total of 137 wickets.

The women’s cricket team captain achieved the during the second T20 game against England in Northampton on Friday. Similarly, in 2021, she became the first Pakistani bowler to achieve 100 wickets in T20Is.

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Dar took two wickets in her 141st innings, surpassing Australia’s Megan Schutt, who has 136 wickets.

Nida Dar now leads with 137 wickets, followed by Megan Schutt with 136, Ellyse Perry from Australia with 126, Anisa Mohammed from the West Indies with 125, and Shabnim Ismail from South Africa with 123.

The all-rounder is ranked sixth by the International Cricket Council (ICC), 22nd in bowling, and 29th in batting.

Dar serves as a right-handed batter and right-arm off-break bowler. She has scored a total of 1,904 runs with a strike rate of 101.27 and has a bowling average of 19.68.

The captain also plays for various domestic teams, including Pakistan Universities, Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited, Sialkot, and Sydney Thunder.

Dar debuted in One Day Internationals (ODI) against Ireland in October 2010 and in T20 Internationals against Sri Lanka in May 2010. She has performed consistently well over the years, such as her first five-wicket haul during the 2018 Women’s Twenty20 Asia Cup against Sri Lanka.

The all-rounder has participated in major tournaments, including the 2018 ICC Women’s World Twenty20 and the 2020 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.

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Dar was appointed vice-captain for the 2022 Women’s Cricket World Cup and led Pakistan in the 2022 Commonwealth Games cricket tournament. She became the captain of the Pakistan women’s national cricket team in April 2023.