46-year-old Imran Tahir records his maiden CPL fifer: Stats
What's the story
Guyana Amazon Warriors captain and veteran leg-spinner Imran Tahir proved his mettle once again in the ongoing Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2025. The 46-year-old took a spectacular five-wicket haul against Antigua & Barbuda Falcons on August 23 in North Sound. His performance was instrumental in leading his team to an impressive victory by 83 runs. The match saw Tahir dismantle the middle and lower order of the opposing team with his skillful bowling.
Match strategy
Tahir's magical spell
Tahir struck on his very first ball, outsmarting Shakib Al Hasan with a clever googly that went past the bat and gave wicketkeeper Shai Hope an easy stumping. Just four balls later, he sent rival captain Imad Wasim packing by tempting him into a lofted drive that was safely taken by Shamar Joseph. The leg-spinner then trapped Shamar Springer plumb in front with a skidding flipper.
Final wickets
A game-changing spell
Tahir clean-bowled Usama Mir with a faster leg-break before rattling Obed McCoy's stumps to complete his five-wicket haul. The spell turned the match into a one-sided affair, with Tahir's figures of 5/21 from four overs sealing the game for Guyana Amazon Warriors. His performance also made it to the franchise's record books as one of the best-ever spells in CPL history.
Information
Oldest captain with a T20 fifer
With his latest fifer, Tahir has become the oldest captain to take a five-wicket haul in T20 cricket. At 46 years and 148 days old during the match, Tahir is also the second-oldest player to take a five-wicket haul across all recorded T20 cricket formats.
Team performance
How did the match pan out?
Before Tahir's brilliant bowling, Guyana had set a challenging target of 211/3. Shai Hope played a key role in the innings with his classy 82 off 54 balls. Shimron Hetmyer and Romario Shepherd also contributed with their blistering knocks, making it tough for the Falcons to chase down the target. Despite a promising start in the power play, Antigua faltered against Tahir's attack and were bowled out for just 128 runs in 15.2 overs.
Career
Second-best figures for a Guyana bowler
As per ESPNcricinfo, Tahir's 5/21 from four overs are the second-best CPL figures by a Guyana bowler, only behind Sohail Tanvir's 5/3 versus Barbados Tridents in 2017. With this spell, Tahir has raced to 114 wickets from just 80 CPL matches at just 17.14 (ER: 6.49). All of his wickets have come for Guyana. The tally includes a four-fer besides a fifer.
Information
Third-most wickets in CPL history
The only overseas bowler with 100-plus CPL wickets, Tahir is only behind Dwayne Bravo (129) and Sunil Narine (124) in terms of wickets in the tourney. Jason Holder (105) is the only other bowler with a century of CPL scalps.
Career
Fourth-most wickets in T20s
Having played 436 T20 games, Tahir has claimed 554 scalps. He averages 19.52 with an economy rate of 6.96. He has managed 12 four-fers and five five-wicket hauls in the 20-over format. 63 of his scalps came for South Africa in T20Is. Meanwhile, Tahir is only behind Rashid Khan (660), Dwayne Bravo (631), and Sunil Narine (590) in terms of T20 wickets.