T20I HAT-TRICK HEROES

Since the first Twenty20 International aka T20I was played on the 17th February 2005, a lot of records have been set and some great feats achieved, one of these being the occurrence of a hat-trick in the shorter format.

A bowler has taken a hat-trick when he/she takes three wickets in three consecutive deliveries, dismissing three different batsmen. Due to the nature of the T20 format, its fast-paced intensity, the occurrence of a hat-trick is quite rare with only 6 hat-tricks achieved so far in over 600 international matches.

Here are the details the very few hat-tricks that have occurred in T20IS. The “fortunate” bowlers have etched their names in cricket’s history book, who will join this elite list, when and how?

EXTRA: Did you know that the word “Hat-trick” originated from cricket? Yes it did. The term first appeared in 1858 describing H.H Stephenson’s dismissal of three batsmen in three consecutive deliveries. Fans held a collection for Stephenson and presented him with a hat bought with the proceeds (Source: Wikipedia).

Brett Lee vs Bangladesh

Brett Lee appeals for one of his hat-trick wickets.

In a match that won him the man of the match award, Australian pacer Brett Lee took the first ever T20I hat-trick in the history of cricket in a Group F match in the ICC World T20I at Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town on the 16th of September 2007.
Bangladesh in the first innings were severely restricted in their scoring efforts and were 108 for 3 by the 16th over when Lee struck. On the 3rd ball of the over, Shakib Al Hasan was dismissed caught-behind to mark the beginning of history. Next ball had Mashrafe Mortaza bowled with Lee nailing the hat-trick by trapping Alok Kapali LBW.
Bangladesh finally posted a total of 128-8 after 20 overs but Australia coasted to the victory in 13.5 overs, winning by 9 wickets with 37 balls remaining.

Jacob Oram vs Sri Lanka

Oram cleans out a Sri Lanka batsman

In the 1st T20I match of New Zealand’s tour of Sri Lanka, which took place on the 2nd of September 2009, the second hat trick in T20Is was taken two years after Lee’s pacesetting feat, the culprit being Jacob Oram of the visiting side.
New Zealand finished with a modest total in the first innings of the game scoring 141-8 with the aid of Ross Taylor’s 45 ball 60. The Lankans started their innings with a blitz by Tillakaratne Dilishan who hit four fours off four balls and played his patent Diliscoop at some point in the game, his knock ending with 57 runs. However, in the 16th over Angelo Mathews popped a return catch to Oram to start the hat-trick streak. It was the last ball of the over and Oram had to wait till the final over of the game to get the hat-trick. At this point Sri Lanka needed 9 balls of 6 balls to win but Oram’s next two strikes dismissing Malinga Bandara and Nuwan Kulasekara and giving him the hat-tick dampened their hopes with the Black Caps winning by 3 runs.

Tim Southee vs Pakistan

Tim Southee celebrates his hat-trick on his way to 5 for 18 against Pakistan

Tim Southee‘s 5-fer helped New Zealand to a 5 wicket win over Pakistan at Eden park on the 26th December 2010. In what was an exceptional performance by the NZ bowler,finishing with figures 4-1-18-5, which included the hat-trick, Southee proved indispensable to the Black Caps and helped them end a losing streak.
The hat-trick came in the 7th over of the game and had a crippling effect on the Pakistan innings. Southee dismissed Younis Khan who had just scored 2 runs off 5 balls via a catch by debutant Dean Brownie. Falling next was the wicket of Mohammed Hafeez who edged to Brendon McCullum. Umar Akmal‘s wrongly given LBW brought the hat-trick for the New Zealand international. It is worthy to note that the feat was accomplished in a 9 ball stretch spread over 3 overs which Southee took 5 wickets without conceding a run.

Thisara Perera vs India

Thisara ecstatic after dismissing Yuvraj Singh.

The first T20I wicket for an Asian was taken by the Sri Lankan all-rounder, Thisara Perera. This took place on the 12th February 2016 at the JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi.
In the 19th over of the T20I between Sri Lanka and India, the Indian batsmen were keen to make quick runs and gave away their wickets cheaply, handing Thisara the historic hat-trick. First, he got Hardik Pandya (27 off 12 balls) who was caught at long-on by Danushka Gunathilaka. Suresh Raina who had crossed to the other end while Pandya’s catch was completed was next to go courtesy of another catch in the field by Dushmantha Chameera fielding at backward squareleg. Next batsman Yuvraj Singh walked in to face the hat-trick ball only to hit high a low full toss from the bowler to Sachitra Senenayake at long-off who completed the catch comfortably to give Thisara Perera the hat-trick.
Despite Perera’s heroics, Sri Lanka still lost the game by 69 runs to India.

Lasith Malinga vs Bangladesh

Lasith Malinga celebrates after dismissing Mehedi Hasan

Sri Lankan slinger, Lasith Malinga completed his fourth hat-trick in international cricket and his first in T20Is in the 2nd T20I match against Bangladesh on the 6th April 2017 at the Premadasa Stadium Colombo.
In the penultimate over of the final match of the series Malinga took 3 wickets in 3 balls to write his name in cricket’s history books. The Sri Lankan pacer, who didn’t start the game well conceding 30 runs by his third over, overturned the situation in the 19th over of the game with slower ball variations that proved effective. Mushfiqur Rahim was the first to return to the stands after being bowled by a slower off-cutter from Malinga. Mashrafe Mortaza playing his last T20I game followed suit and was bowled by a dipping delivery that knocked off his middle stumps. The hat-trick ball trapped debutant Mehedi Hasan LBW, the batsman misjudging another slower ball from Malinga and playing early to give Malinga the hat-trick. Bangladesh still went on to win the game by 45 runs.

Faheem Ashraf vs Sri Lanka

Faheem Ashraf celebrates one of his hat-trick wickets.

Faheem Ashraf became the unlikely first Pakistani bowler to take a T20I hat-trick on the 27th October 2017 in a T20I match against Sri Lanka at Abu Dhabi, during Sri Lanka’s tour of UAE and Pakistan that year. He had just played 3 ODIs and 2 T20Is for the Pakistani national team before the match.
The Pakistani all-rounder took the hat-trick in the 19th over of the Sri Lankan innings. After the first three balls of the over, the hat-trick got underway when Isuru Udana pulled a slower bouncer to Hasan Ali at short fineleg. The second wicket to fall was that of Mahela Udawatte, who tried to play a ball wide outside off but holed out to Babar Azam at deep cover. The hat-trick was completed when Dasun Shanaka was adjudjed LBW while trying to slap Faheems’s delivery across the wicket but was struck on the pads. Pakistan went on to win the game with Faheem ending with figures of 3-0-16-3.

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