The ICC Men's T20 World Cup is the international championship of Twenty20 (T20) cricket. A Twenty20 International (T20I) is an international cricket match between two teams, each having T20I status, as determined by the International Cricket Council (ICC), the sport's world governing body. In a T20I, each team plays a single innings, which is restricted to a maximum of 20 overs. In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "fiveâÂÂfor" or "fifer") refers to a bowler taking five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by the critics as a notable achievement. As of the 2026 Men's T20 World Cup, the most recent to take place, there have been 14 five-wicket hauls taken by 14 cricketers.
The first five-wicket haul in an ICC Men's T20 World Cup match, as well as in any T20I match, was taken by Umar Gul of Pakistan, with bowling figures of five wickets for 6 runs. He achieved the feat on 13 June 2009 while playing against New Zealand at The Oval during the 2009 ICC World Twenty20. The second bowler to take a five-for was Sri Lanka's Ajantha Mendis, who picked up six wickets for 8 runs, recording the best bowling figures in the T20 World Cup to date. He set the record while playing against Zimbabwe, on 18 September 2012 during the 2012 ICC World Twenty20. On 27 March 2014, Ahsan Malik of the Netherlands took five wickets conceding 19 runs against South Africa during the 2014 ICC World Twenty20. With this, he became the first player from an associate nation to claim a five-wicket haul in a T20 World Cup match. Rangana Herath's five-for against New Zealand on 31 March 2014 is the most economical five-wicket haul in the T20 World Cup. He averaged 0.60 in that match, which is also the best average for a five-for in the T20 World Cup. On 26 March 2016, at the age of 20, Mustafizur Rahman picked up five wickets for 22 runs against New Zealand during the 2016 edition, becoming the youngest player to claim a five-wicket haul in the championship. Mujeeb Ur Rahman of Afghanistan was the first player to claim a five-wicket haul on his T20 World Cup debut, which he achieved while playing against Scotland on 25 October 2021, during the 2021 edition.
The 2007 and 2010 editions were the only tournaments where no five-wicket hauls were taken. Every other season except 2009 and 2022 saw two five-wicket hauls. There have been three instances when players from Sri Lanka have taken a five-for in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, the most for any team in the competition.