5 Oldest surviving records in Twenty20 cricket

1. Most dismissals in a match (2005)

Sri Lanka was only the 3rd country to adopt the Twenty20 format as they hosted the first domestic T20 competition in 2004 itself. A total of 16 teams featured in the tournament which was played in knockout style. The 2005 edition was a long one and the very second day of the tournament witnessed a World record. Moors Sports Club clashed off Lankan Cricket Club in a match at the Colombo’s Bloomfield. Moors Sports Club, who batted first, were bowled out for only 119 in 19.5 overs.

The Lankan CC reached the 120-run target with three balls and three wickets to spare. Their wicketkeeper Upul Fernando scored an unbeaten 58 after walking to bat at the score of 3/2. It wasn’t Fernando’s first major contribution in this victory. Fernando picked up as many as seven catches during the Moors’ innings. Upul Fernando’s seven catches in that game made him hold the record for most dismissals in a T20 match. This is the oldest standing record in Twenty20 history.

In fact, till date, only one more player managed to claim six catches in a T20 game – Aditya Tare for Mumbai against Madhya Pradesh in 2019. Akeem Dodson (For USA in 2015) and Minod Bhanuka (For Colombo CC in 2020) are the other players to affect six dismissals in a Twenty20 match which includes two stumpings. During the 2019-20 BPL, Bangladesh keeper Jaker Ali also claimed six catches for Dhaka Platoon but he actually kept wickets during the 2nd innings in absence of Anamul Haque.