Hat-tricks in any form of cricket are rare occurrences. At times, it comes off as a result of some disciplined bowling and persistent attack at the batsmen, while on other occasions, it comes as a result of some negligence on the batsman’s part or maybe just sheer luck. Whatever may be the case, getting wickets off three consecutive deliveries isn’t a day-to-day activity, which is why cricketers who etch out such a feat are fondly remembered.
However, there have been instances when three consecutive wickets haven’t come off three consecutive balls in the same over. It becomes a confusion of sorts when that happens, as sometimes, even the bowler is caught unaware of the scheme of things and fails to realise that he has actually picked up a hat-trick. Here, in this piece, we enumerate five such hat-tricks to have happened across two overs.
Abdur Razzak (Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe, 2010)
In the second ODI between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe at Mirpur during the 2010 ODI series, the visitors were looking to seal the three-match series, having already won the first ODI. However, the hosts were in no mood to relent, as after winning the toss and electing to field first, Bangladesh put up an impressive show with the ball and reduced the visiting team to 132/6 in 37 overs.
Thereafter, Craig Ervine and Prosper Utseya shared a 57-run partnership for the seventh wicket, and it looked like the pair would take the African nation to a total of some respectability. However, the left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak had other plans, as he sealed the deal for his team and brought an end to Zimbabwe’s struggle. Razzak first dismissed Utseya on the last ball of the 45th over, by getting the batsman caught by Naeem Islam.
Thenceforth, on the first two balls of his next over, the 47th of the innings, Razzak bundled the Zimbabweans out by trapping Ray Price as well as Christopher Mpofu leg-before-wicket. In total, the spinner finished with five wickets in the match, having already picked up the wickets of Tatenta Taibu and Regis Chakabva earlier in the innings. As a consequence, Zimbabwe were bowled out for 191 in 46.2 overs, and Bangladesh easily scaled the target of 192 with six wickets in hand.
Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka vs Kenya, 2011)
Having made a name for himself already, after he took 4 wickets in 4 balls during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007, Lasith Malinga was in for another World Cup moment in the league match against Kenya in the 2011 edition. Kenya won the toss and chose to bat at the R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, but were soon made to regret the decision through an excellent bowling performance by the hosts.
After the Africans had slipped to 128/6 in 41 overs, Malinga decided to rush the proceedings and cleaned up Tanmay Mishra, Peter Ongondo and Shem Ngoche off three successive deliveries. However, the dismissals came in two different overs. Mishra was trapped leg-before-wicket on the last ball of the 42nd over, while Ongondo and Ngoche were bowled by the Lankan off the first two balls of his next over – the 44th of the innings.
Kenya were bowled out 142 in 43.4 overs, and the Lankans ran through the Kenyan bowling and reached the paltry total in just 18.4 overs. Malinga finished with 6/38 off 7.4 overs, having already accounted for the wickets of Seren Waters, Collins Obuya, and Elijah Otieno, and was chosen as the man of the match.
Taijul Islam (Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe, 2014)
There is something that connects Bangladesh-Zimbabwe encounters with hat-tricks. Following Abdur Razzak’s hat-trick four years back against the same opposition at the same venue, Taijul Islam picked up another one during the 5th ODI of the five-match series at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur. Batting first after winning the toss, Zimbabwe, who were already trailing 4-0 in the series until then, displayed another dismal performance and were bowled out for 128.
Islam and his spin bowling partner, Shakib-Al-Hasan were the wreckers-in-chief as they picked up 4 and 3 wickets respectively. Three of Islam’s four victims in the innings fell one after the other, on consecutive balls, but not in the same over. On the last ball of the 27th over, Tinashe Panyangara was bowled by the spinner, while on the first two balls of his next over – the 29th over of the innings – John Nyumbu and Tendai Chatara were dismissed, leg-before-wicket and bowled, respectively.
Needless to say that Bangladesh went on to win then match and complete a clean sweep of the Africans 5-0, as they hunted down the target of 129 with 5 wickets in hand and more than 25 overs to spare.
JP Duminy (South Africa vs Sri Lanka, 2015)
While the classic that transpired as the semi-final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 between South Africa and New Zealand is still fresh in the common memories, the performance that helped them reach the semis is often forgotten and shoved to the hindsight. In the 1st quarter-final played between South Africa and Sri Lanka, the Proteas put up an impressive bowling performance to unsettle a Sri Lankan batting line-up comprising Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardena and Tillakaratne Dilshan and bowl them out for just 133.
While the likes of Dale Steyn, Kyle Abbott, Imran Tahir and Morne Morkel were present in the team, the hat-trick concerned here wasn’t taken by any of them. It was the part-time off-spinner JP Duminy who bamboozled the batsmen and picked up three wickets off three consecutive deliveries. The African first dismissed the Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews by getting him caught off Faf du Plessis on the last ball of the 33rd over. Thereafter, Nuwan Kulasekara and Tharindu Kaushal were dismissed off successive deliveries in the next over.
South Africa, in reply, made a mockery of the small target, as they hunted it down in just 18 overs with 9 wickets in hand.
James Faulkner (Australia vs Sri Lanka, 2016)
A good practitioner of the slower delivery in modern-day cricket, James Faulkner has become an integral part of Australia's limited-overs setup. His ability to bowl well at the death as well as squeeze out a wicket or two in the middle overs make him a part of Australia’s pace attack almost every time that they take the field. Faulker is no mug with the bat either as he has played many quick-fire match-winning innings with the bat.
In the 2nd ODI against Sri Lanka during the Australia’s 2016 tour to the island nation, Faulkner picked up his first hat-trick in ODI cricket as he dismissed Kusal Perera, Angelo Mathews and Thisara Perera off successive deliveries. Sri Lanka were comfortably placed at 261/5 in the 46th over, and the pair of Kusal Perea and Angelo Mathews were looking to push the score past 300. However, when Perea was trapped leg-before off the last ball of the 46th, Sri Lanka knew that 300 from thereon was going to be difficult.
Faulkner then dismissed Mathews and Thisara Perera off the first two balls of the 48th over to complete his hat-trick. Notwithstanding that, the hosts managed to score 288 before being bowled out in then 49th over, a score that proved out to be too much for the Australians in the end, as the visitors could only manage to score 206 and lost the match by 82 runs.
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