Maheesh Theekshana is NOT the First Bowler in IPL History To Bowl The 20th Over Maiden!

As the extravagant IPL T20 cricket tournament draws towards the final stages, there is a lot of interest among Sri Lankan cricket fans, especially to witness the performances of Sri Lankan players. Much of this enthusiasm is due to two Sri Lankan bowlers, Maheesh and Mathisha, churning out stellar performances game after game, representing Chennai Super Kings.

In such a background, a series of posts were viral among social media circles claiming that the Sri Lankan spinner Maheesh Theekshana achieved an exceptional bowling feat in becoming the first and only player to bowl a maiden in the 20^th over. (6 balls without conceding any runs)

First, let’s look at the claim in detail.

Social Media Posts

Multiple Facebook posts stated that Maheesh Theeksha became the first-ever bowler to bowl a maiden over in the 20th over of an innings in the entire IPL history since 2008.

FB | Archived Facebook | Archived

Users commented on it like below.

These posts were viral in Sinhala also with much praise towards the Sri Lankan bowler. But was he the first to achieve this honor? Let’s find out.

Fact Check

In a twenty-over (T20) cricket match, the batting side often targets the 20th over (final over) to maximize the number of runs scored. Therefore, in a T20 match, it isn’t easy to bowl six balls in the last over (20^th over) without conceding any runs.

So, has Maheesh Theekshana managed to achieve the very rare feat of becoming the first IPL bowler to bowl a 20th-over maiden?

No. Four IPL bowlers have managed to bowl 20^th over maidens before Maheesh!

One among them is Sri Lanka's premier fast bowler Lasith Malinga. Lasith Malinga accomplished this difficult task in 2009 while representing Mumbai Indians. Like Maheesh, Malinga also took two wickets in bowling his 20^th over maiden.

In addition, the other bowlers who managed to bowl a maiden in the 20th over are Irfan Pathan in the first-ever IPL in 2008 (with no wickets), Jaidev Unadcat in 2017 (which also included a hat-trick) and Umran Malik in 2022 (3 wickets).

Interestingly, out of these four players, 3 are Indians. Hence after Lasith Malinga, Maheesh Theekshana became the second foreign bowler who bowled the 20th over without giving away any runs.

Also, since all the bowlers who achieved the 20th over in the IPL before Maheesh were fast or medium-fast bowlers, Maheesh Theekshana is the first spinner to accomplish this rare feat.

Lasith Malinga and Umran Malik bowled their maiden 20^th over when bowling in the first innings, which was even more challenging. But, like Maheesh, Irfan Pathan and Jaidev Udakat achieved this task in the second innings.

Reports on this can be read here and here.

How Did Maheesh Theekshana Deliver his 20^th Over Maiden?

Sri Lankan spinner Maheesh Theekshana, representing Chennai Super Kings, performed this feat on 20^th May, against the Delhi Capitals, in the final match of the preliminary round between the two teams.

Delhi Capitals was on the brink of losing the match even when Maheesh came on to bowl the 20^th over. After bowling two dot balls, Maheesh took two consecutive wickets (3rd and 4th balls). But, unfortunately, he couldn’t get a hat trick as the 5th ball landed outside the leg stump, and both the 5^th and 6^th balls were also dot balls.

Chennai Super Kings won this match by 77 runs; details about that match are here. With that victory, the Chennai team qualified for the final play-off stage of the IPL tournament. After that, in the first qualifier match, they beat the defending champions Gujarat Titans and booked their place in the IPL final on May 28. The contribution of Sri Lankan bowlers Maheesh and Matisha Pathirana was a key factor in the victorious run of Chennai Super Kings.

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Conclusion

Our investigation shows that the posts circulating on social media stating that Maheesh Theekshana had become the only bowler in the world to bowl the 20^th over of IPL history without giving away a single run are false.

Four bowlers performed this rare feat before Maheesh. Among them is Lasith Malinga, who performed an identical feat to Maheesh, with 2 wickets without conceding any runs in the 20th over. The other three were Indian fast bowlers.

Hence, Maheesh Theekshana is the fifth player to bowl a maiden in the 20th over in IPL history. However, he is the first spinner to achieve this rare feat.