Six bowlers who have taken 4 wickets in 4 balls

Picking up a hat-trick in cricket is quite a rare feat in itself, but there have been few instances where the bowlers have gone a notch ahead and picked up 4 wickets in 4 balls. This is a feat so rare that it has happened only once in international cricket. People often refer to this as a “ double hat-trick” since it consists of two sets of overlapping pairs of hat-tricks.

Balls 1,2,3 consists of one set and balls 2, 3, 4 consists of the other hence the term double hat-trick.

Here we look at 6 such instances where the bowlers have managed to achieve this unthinkable feat and stunned their opponents in the process.

1) Lasith Malinga

Who could forget this heart-stopping thriller from the 2007 World Cup! The Proteas almost choked yet again but managed to somehow scrape through to a one-wicket win in their Super Eight clash against Sri Lanka. The Proteas were cruising at 206/5 while chasing down just 210 to win and were at a striking distance from a comfortable win.

Lasith Malinga though had other plans. In the 45th over Malinga had Shaun Pollock clean bowled off his fifth ball and had Andrew Hall caught at covers of the final ball of that over. Coming back to bowl the 47th over Malinga struck off the first ball to send Jacques Kallis on his way and completed his hat-trick in the process. Kallis was caught behind for a well made 86 and his dismissal really set the cat amongst the pigeons.

Malinga made it four in a row with the wicket of Makhaya Ntini who was castled by that famous yorker. South Africa huffed and puffed their way to get the remaining three runs and ended up on the winning side.

2) Andre Russell

Andre Russell picked 4 wickets in 4 balls in a List A game against India A

Turning up for West Indies A, Andre Russell, the flamboyant allrounder, managed this feat against India A in September 2013 and became the first bowler in T20 List A history to pick ‘4 in 4’. India A were playing West Indies A at Bangalore in a one-off T20 game when Russell got his act together in the 19th over of the innings dismissing four quality Indian batsmen.

Russell picked the wickets of skipper Yuvraj Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Naman Ojha and Yusuf Pathan to peg India back a wee bit. However, India A ended up scoring a mammoth 214 runs. Russell has since gone on to become a vital cog in the wheel of the West Indian unit and has played a stellar role in their recent success.

3) Al-Amin Hossain

Al-Amin Hossain picked 5 wickets in an over in a domestic T20 game in 2013

Hossain became the second bowler after Andre Russell to pick up 4 wickets in 4 balls in Twenty20s and is the first bowler to take five wickets in an over in a List A T20 match. The talented Bangladeshi who was playing for UCB-BCB Eleven wreaked havoc against Abahani Limited in the Victory Day T20 domestic tournament.

It was the final over of the innings and Al-Amin was entrusted with the responsibility of bowling the crucial over. He responded in style by picking up a wicket off the first ball and then picking 4 consecutive wickets off the last four balls of the over. His four scalps were Nazmul Hossain Milon, Naeem Islam Jr, Suhrawawadi Shuvo and Nabil Samad. UCB-BCB Eleven later clinched the thriller by 2 wickets.

4) Alfonso Thomas

Alfonso Thomas exults after picking yet another wicket for Somerset

In the 2014 County Championship, Alfonso Thomas picked up 4 in 4 against Sussex at Taunton and helped Somerset to a comfortable win. The South African was all over the Sussex batters as they found it extremely difficult to counter his swing.

Thomas picked up a hat-trick in the last three balls of an over and picked up another one in the first ball of his next. He bowled full and had the nightwatchman Jimmy Anyon bowled off an inside edge. He then caught Rory Hamilton-Brown in front, off his next ball and finished his hat-trick with the wicket of former Irish skipper, Ed Joyce who was caught fishing outside the off stump. His fourth victim was Matt Machan who was bowled in a similar fashion to Anyon.

5) Kevan James

Kevan James not only took 4 in 4 but also scored a century against the visiting Indians in 1996

It was the English summer of 1996 when India unearthed two of their greatest cricketers; Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly. Not many would remember a certain bloke called Kevan James though. James did the unthinkable for Hampshire when he picked up 4 wickets in 4 balls against the Indians and followed it up with a century in the practice game at Southampton leading up to the third test.

James with his left arm medium had Vikram Rathour’s wicket first up. Sachin Tendulkar walked out and was dismissed off an inside edge that carried to short leg. James then completed his hat-trick with the wicket of the then-young Rahul Dravid who was trapped in front.

Sanjay Manjrekar was the next victim when he was caught behind off a widish delivery. James later top-scored with 103 to propel Hampshire to 458 and the game ended in a draw.

6) Gary Butcher

Gary Butcher picked up 4 consecutive wickets for Surrey in the year 2000

Gary Butcher, the younger brother of former English opener Mark Butcher, created history by picking up 4 consecutive wickets for Surrey and dismantled the Derbyshire tail with his gentle seamers. Adam Hollioake who was the captain of Surrey those days decided to drop his brother Ben Hollioake and accommodated Gary into his side.

The decision yielded great results as Butcher picked the wicket of Paul Aldred off the last ball of an over followed by a hat-trick in the first three balls of his next over. He picked up the wickets Tim Munton, Kavin Dean, and Lian Wharton. With the ball seaming around, all three were caught at slips and Derbyshire were folded up for a paltry 118.