History maker Lasith Malinga takes four in four against New Zealand, becomes first bowler to pick up 100 T20I wickets

Pallekele, Sep 6: Legendary Sri Lanka pacer Lasith Malinga once again proved that he's still one of the most lethal fast bowler in the world as he claimed four wickets in as many balls against New Zealand in the third and final T20I against New Zealand on Friday (September 6).

With his second such feat in international cricket, as the slinger had achieved four in four in an ODI game before, helped Sri Lanka register a resounding 37-run win in the third match of the series.

The veteran paceman produced a stunning second over on his way to recording figures of 5-6 - his best in the format for his country - that included accounting for three of the four Kiwi batsmen to make first-ball ducks.

Needing 126 to complete a 3-0 sweep, the Black Caps reached 15 before losing their first wicket, Colin Munro becoming Malinga's 100th T20 victim for Sri Lanka.

He immediately followed up the initial breakthrough by removing Hamish Rutherford and Colin de Grandhomme, in the process becoming the first bowler to claim two T20I hat-tricks at international level.

The 36-year-old also became the first bowler in T20I to pick up 100 wickets in the shortest format of the game. In the previous game, Malinga surpassed former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi to become the leading wicket-taker in Twent20. Afridi has 98 T20I wickets.

Malinga also happens to be the leading wicket-taker in the Indian Premier League with 170 scalps in 122 games. The 36-year-old needed just two wickets to get past Afridi's tally of wickets 98 wickets in T20I cricket before the match. Malinga picked up wickets of Colin Munro and Colin de Grandhomme to achieve this milestone.