NZ vs BAN, CWC 2023: Trent Boult Becomes Sixth Bowler To Take First-Ball Wicket In ODI World Cup Match

NZ vs BAN CWC 2023: New Zealand pace spearhead Trent Boult joined a unique list on Friday (October 13) with the first-ball wicket against Bangladesh in match 11 of the ICC World Cup 2023 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

The left-arm pacer removed Bangladesh opener Litton Das for a golden duck in the very first delivery of the match to become only the sixth bowler in ODI World Cup history to achieve the rare feat.

Boult joined the likes of Craig McDermott, Chaminda Vaas, Khuram Chohan, Sheldon Cottrell and Kagiso Rabada to take a wicket in the first ball of an ODI World Cup match. Here is the list of the first-ball wicket-takers and their victims:

First Ball Wicket-Takers In ODI World Cup

Player	Team	Versus	Batter Out	Year
Craig McDermott	Australia	New Zealand	John Wright	1992
Chaminda Vaas	Sri Lanka	Bangladesh	Hannan Sarkar	2003
Khuram Chohan	Canada	Zimbabwe	Brendon Taylor	2011
Sheldon Cottrell	West Indies	New Zealand	Martin Guptill	2019
Kagiso Rabada	South Africa	Sri Lanka	Dimuth Karunaratne	2019
Trent Boult	New Zealand	Bangladesh	Litton Das	2023

While this is his first-ever first-ball of the match scalp in ODI World Cup, Boult has taken a first-ball wicket in two other ODI matches prior to the latest dimissal of Das.

Earlier this year in September, the left-arm seamer removed England's Jonny Bairstow of the very first ball in the ODI match at Kennington Oval in London, while his first-ever first-ball ODI match wicket was also an England player - Bairstow's partner Jason Roy in 2015.

While Boult has claimed a first-ball of the match wicket in ODI three times now, another left arm pacer - Sri Lanka great Vaas holds the record for most first ball wickets with five scalps. Here is a look at the players with 3 or more first-ball of the match wickets:

Bowlers With Most First-Ball Wickets in ODI cricket

1. Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka) - 5 times
2. Zaheer Khan (India) - 4 times
Wasim Akram (Pakistan) - 4 times
3. Nuwan Kulasekara (Sri Lanka) - 3 times
Mitchell Starc (Australia) - 3 times
Trent Boult (New Zealand) - 3 times
Shaun Pollock (South Africa) - 3 times
Craig McDermott (Australia) - 3 times

The scalp of Litton Das also took Boult close to a milestone. He is now 1 wicket away from 200 wickets in ODI cricket. He is well on course to become the fastest Kiwi player to achielve the milestone and only the sixth from the country to claim 200 ODI wickets.