Left-arm bowlers have ruled the roost in international cricket over the past few years. Some say they are difficult to pick, others find it hard to adjust to the angle of the deliveries. Former England cricketer Graham Gooch one said about Wasim Akram, “He was effective both over and round the wicket and was very difficult to read.” The left-arm seamer had taken the globe by storm with his skills during the 1992 World Cup where he played a key role in Pakistan’s success.
With time more such bowlers came to the forefront and have been quite successful at the highest level. Here we look at 5 such bowlers to have grabbed hat-tricks in Test matches.
#1 Wasim Akram
It was the third match of the Asian Test Championships in Lahore in 1999 where Pakistan were up against Sri Lanka. The hosts batted first and got to a huge 398 with Wajahatullah Wasti scoring 133. Sri Lanka were well on course to get a first innings lead with Romesh Kaluwitharana sitting pretty at 100 but then Akram came to the party.
He first drew an edge and had Kaluwitharana caught behind by Moeen Khan. His next victim was Niroshan Bandaratilleke who was clean bowled. And his hat-trick delivery too castled Pramodya Wickramasinghe.Akram followed the hat trick with another one in the final against the same opponents. This time, the venue was the Bangabandhu stadium in Dhaka where the pitch is not at all conducive to seam bowling.
After bowling out Sri Lanka for a low score of 231, Pakistan managed a mammoth 594. The Lankans needed something very special from their batsman to save the Test but again it was Akram who had other ideas.
He first got rid of Avishka Gunawardene who was caught by Shahid Afridi and next knocked back Chaminda Vaas’ stumps. With his third ball, he sent back Mahela Jayawardene who was out caught by Wasti. Pakistan won the game by an innings and 175 runs.
#2 Nuwan Zoysa
Nuwan Zoysa was a Sri Lankan bowler who featured for the national side in 30 Test matches. He was never considered a huge threat by batsmen and that is exactly how he kept on chipping away at wickets.
It was Sri Lanka’s tour of Zimbabwe in 1999 where Zoysa was able to grab a hat-trick. It was the second Test of the tour and Zimbabwe were sent in to bat first. The lanky pacer got his reward in a pack of three right away.
With his very first ball, he trapped Trevor Gripper right in front of the stumps and followed it up with an absolute peach of a delivery to Murray who could only knick it to Romesh Kaluwitharana behind the stumps. Zoysa’s third scalp was Neil Johnson who was adjudged leg-before-wicket.
But sadly, he could never live up to the expectations and only managed to take 64 Test wickets. In ODIs he had picked 108 wickets from 95 matches.
#3 Irfan Pathan
Irfan Pathan stormed the cricketing world in the early 2000s with his left-arm pace bowling. His ability to swing the leather both ways impressed the then Indian captain Sourav Ganguly who handed him his debut in 2003.
It took just three years for Irfan to get his first Test hat-trick but sadly there was none after that. In 2006 India toured Pakistan and the third Test saw both teams lock horns at the National Stadium in Karachi. India chose to field after winning the toss and Irfan made full use of the morning conditions. With the fourth delivery of the day, the seamer sent back Salman Butt as his catch was easily taken by Rahul Dravid at slip.
He next got Younis Khan trapped right in front of the wicket and then sneaked through the defence of Mohammad Yusuf to sent him packing too. Unfortunately, India still lost the Test by 341 runs and after few years Irfan ran out of fizz.
#4 James Franklin
James Franklin led the New Zealand bowling attack along with the likes of Shane Bond in the early 2000s. Though underrated he was quite lethal in seaming conditions. But his hat-trick was on a flat wicket at the Bangabandhu stadium in Dhaka where he ran through the Bangladeshi batting line-up on a fine morning in October 2004.
Bangladesh chose to bat in the first Test of the two-match series and were already tottering at 165/6 when Franklin achieved the rare feat.The left-arm seamer’s first victim was Manjural Islam Rana who was out caught behind. He then got the wicket of Mohammed Rafique before castling Tapash Baisya. Bangladesh never recovered from the jolt and eventually lost the match by 99 runs.
Franklin was a talented bowler but only featured in 31 Tests for the Blackcaps and picked up 82 wickets with a strike rate of 58.1.
#5 Rangana Herath
Veteran left-arm spinner Rangana Herath has for quite some time been Sri Lanka’s spin bowling spearhead in Test matches. Be it the turning tracks in the sub-continent or the grassy wickets in England and Australia, Herath has more often than not delivered for the Asian islanders.
He sparkled on Friday too in the Test against Australia which is currently underway at Galle where he picked up his first ever hat-trick in Tests. Australia were struggling at 80/4 with Adam Voges and Mitchell Marsh trying to rebuild the innings but then Herath spoiled the party.He first picked up Voges who was brilliantly caught at cover by Dimuth Karuraratne and then trapped Peter Nevill with a slider.His last victim was Mitchell Starc, who too was adjudged leg-before-wicket.
He has taken 313 wickets already from just 71 Tests with best figures of 9/127 in an innings. However, he has failed to replicate the success in One-Day Internationals where he has bagged just 74 wickets from 71 outings.
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