London, Aug 8 (IANS): South African batting all-rounder Colin Ackermann has become the first bowler to take a seven-wicket haul in T20 cricket.

Ackermann on Wednesday returned with bowling figures of 7-18 in Leicestershire's 55-run victory against Birmingham Bears in a T20 Blast game in Leicester.

He took six of his seven wickets in two overs as Birmingham lost their last eight wickets for just 20 runs to be bowled out for 134, chasing 190.

The 28-year-old off-spinner scalped the wickets of Michael Burgess, Sam Hain, Will Rhodes, Liam Banks, Alex Thomson, Henry Brookes and Jeetan Patel.

His figures surpassed the previous best of 6-5 by Malaysian bowler Arul Suppiah for Somerset against Glamorgan in 2011.

"Never in a million years (did I expect to set a bowling record) - I'm a batting all-rounder," Ackermann was quoted as saying by the official ICC website.

"It was the first time it has turned at Grace Road, so I tried to use my height and get a bit of bounce. Even if it turns a couple of centimetres, it's an advantage. I tried to get the batters to hit into the biggest part of the field into the wind and just mix my pace up a little," said the Leicester captain.