Nuwan Thushara entered his name in the history books on Thursday, September 18, by breaking the record of best bowling figures for Sri Lanka in Asia Cup T20Is. The 31-year-old pacer bowled four overs for Sri Lanka on Thursday against Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi and picked up 4 wickets for 18 runs in four overs.
Before him the record of best bowling figures for Sri Lanka in the T20I format of the Asia Cup was in the name of Lasith Malinga. Malinga bowled four bowlers for the six-time champions in the Asia Cup 2016 match played against UAE in Mirpur on February 25, 2016, and finished with figures of 4 for 26.
In the 2022 edition of the Asia Cup, Pramod Madushan picked up 4 wickets for 34 runs in four overs against Pakistan on September 11, 2022, in Dubai.
Best bowling figures for Sri Lanka in Asia Cup T20Is
| BOWLER | OVERS | RUNS | WICKETS | AGAINST | VENUE | DATE |
| Nuwan Thushara | 4 | 18 | 4 | Afghanistan | Abu Dhabi | September 18, 2025 |
| Lasith Malinga | 4 | 26 | 4 | UAE | Mirpur | February 25, 2016 |
| Pramod Madushan | 4 | 34 | 4 | Pakistan | Dubai | September 11, 2022 |
| Nuwan Kulasekara | 4 | 10 | 3 | UAE | Mirpur | February 25, 2016 |
| Wanindu Hasaranga | 4 | 21 | 3 | Pakistan | Dubai | September 9, 2022 |
The figures of 4/18 by Thushara on Thursday are the joint-fifth-best bowling performance by any bowler in Asia Cup T20Is.
Best bowling figures in Asia Cup T20Is
| PLAYER | TEAM | OVERS | RUNS | WICKETS | AGAINST | VENUE | DATE |
| Bhuvneshwar Kumar | India | 4 | 4 | 5 | Afghanistan | Dubai | September 8, 2022 |
| Kuldeep Yadav | India | 2.1 | 7 | 4 | UAE | Dubai | September 10, 2025 |
| Shadab Khan | Pakistan | 2.4 | 8 | 4 | Hong Kong | Sharjah | September 2, 2022 |
| Mohammad Nabi | Afghanistan | 4 | 17 | 4 | Hong Kong | Mirpur | February 22, 2016 |
| Nuwan Thushara | Sri Lanka | 4 | 18 | 4 | Afghanistan | Abu Dhabi | September 18, 2025 |
| Junaid Siddique | UAE | 4 | 18 | 4 | Pakistan | Dubai | September 17, 2025 |
| Junaid Siddique | UAE | 4 | 23 | 4 | Oman | Abu Dhabi | September 15, 2025 |
Thushara opened his wicket account by dismissing Rahmanullah Gurbaz on the first ball of the third over of Afghanistan’s innings. Gurbaz was caught by Kusal Perera after making 14 runs from eight balls. On the last ball of that same over, Thushara breached Karim Janat’s defence and shattered his stumps. Janat could only manage to score 1 run from three balls.
In his third over of the match, Thushara bowled Sediqullah Atal. Atal faced 14 balls and, with the help of two fours and one six, scored 18 runs. Thushara completed his four-fer by breaching Rashid Khan’s defence. Rashid was sent back to the pavilion for a score of 24 runs.
