5 most expensive spells in T20 internationals

#1 Kyle Abbott – vs West Indies at Johannesburg, 11 January 2015

Abbott found out here vs the mighty West Indian hitters that T20 is a different beast

Figures: 4 overs, 1 for 68

But the not-something-to-be-proud-of record for the worst T20I bowling figures till today belongs to South African pace bowler, Kyle Abbott; the man who made a roaring start to his international career in a test match against Pakistan in 2013, with figures of 7 for 29 in his first ever bowling innings.

As he found out here vs the mighty West Indian hitters, T20 is a different beast.

Darren Sammy won the toss and chose to bowl first, having chased successfully in the first match of the series. South Africa’s skipper Faf du Plessis played a stunning innings of 119 off just 56 deliveries to set a target of 232 for the West Indies.

Out came Dwayne Smith and Chris Gayle, with our man in question, Kyle Abbott, bowling the first over. Smith took 3 fours of him and played 3 dots, which meant 12 off the first over.

Come over no. 2 and Chris Gayle was in his elements. Abbott smashed for 4 fours and a six, and the over conceding 22 to give West Indies the much-required momentum in the run chase.

Skipper Faf took him off and held him back for the death, the tense part of what was now becoming an interesting chase. West Indies needed 46 off 4 overs and Abbott came on to bowl the 17^th over. Andre Russell, or “dre russ” as he’s called these days, took 12 off his first 3 balls including a four and a six, but Abbott bounced back to dismiss him off the 4^th.

Dwayne “Champion” Bravo hit a four off his last delivery to make it 16 off the over.

Then came the 19^th over, often considered to be the most important of a T20 innings, with West Indies needing 21 off 2 overs. Ramdin and Sammy were batting. The first 2 deliveries fetched 6, with Ramdin hitting a four, but then it was Captain Sammy, who took 2 fours and 2 twos off the last 4 to end Kyle Abbott’s misery for the day, and inch West Indies ever closer to the highest T20I chase of all time.

18 from the over meant West Indies needed just 3 off the last over, which they comfortably managed, and Kyle Abbott ended his spell with 4-0-68-1, to get an extremely unwanted record for a bowler to his name - the most expensive T20I spell ever.