Finland's Mahesh Tambe scripts history, takes quickest ever T20 five-wicket haul

Finland’s veteran pacer Mahesh Tambe produced a historic spell against Estonia, picking five wickets in just eight balls, making it the quickest five-wicket haul in the history of international T20 cricket. The feat was achieved during the third and final T20I of the series in Tallinn on Sunday, July 27, 2025, helping Finland clinch the series 2-1.

Before this game, the record for the fastest five-wicket haul in T20Is was held by Junaid Aziz of Bahrain, who achieved the feat in 10 balls against Germany in 2022. However, the 40-year-old Finnish broke the record after three years.  

Introduced into the attack in the 17th over of Estonia's innings, dismissed Sahil Chauhan, who holds the record for the fastest T20I century, on his third delivery. He followed it up by sending Muhammad Usman Sr and Steffan Gooch back to the pavilion in the same over, ending with three wickets in four balls and narrowly missing a hat-trick.

Returning in the 19th over, Tambe completed the rare hat-trick by removing Rupam Baruah and Pranay Gheewala off consecutive deliveries. This brought his figures to five wickets in just eight deliveries. Tambe finished with figures of five wickets for 19 runs in his two-over spell, playing a big role in restricting Estonia to 141 in 19.4 overs. His spell helped Finland restrict Estonia to push past 160.

Mahesh Tambe adjudged Player of the Match

Finland chased down the 142-run target with five wickets in hand and 11 balls to spare, with Aravind Mohan anchoring the innings with a 67-run knock. Contributions from Jordan O’Brien and Amjad Sher helped seal the win. With this victory, Finland secured the T20I series 2-1, after Estonia had levelled it in the second match. For his record-breaking performance, Tambe was rightly adjudged Player of the Match. Meanwhile, Tambe has so far taken 28 wickets in 24 T20Is. His 5/19 against Estonia stands as his best career performance so far.

Quickest five-wicket hauls in T20Is (by balls taken)

8 - Mahesh Tambe (Finland) v Estonia, 2025*
10 - Junaid Aziz (Bahrain) v Germany, 2022
11 - Rashid Khan (Afghanistan) v Ireland, 2017
11 - Moazzam Baig (Malawi) v Cameroon, 2024
11 - Khizer Hayat (Malaysia) v Hong Kong, 2020