Hat-tricks in consecutive days, this world cup is turning to be the world cup of records. Kemar Roach did it against Netherlands yesterday, and now it's turn of Lasith Malinga. Playing in his first match of this world cup, Malinga quickly dismantled the Kenyan batting lineup with his fierce bowling.
One thing that is common between Roach and Malinga is that they both are fast bowlers; and getting 3 wickets in a row at the sub-continent pitches sounds very amazing. But, this is not the first time the sub-continents have experienced hat-trick show in their grounds.
Hat-tricks in Sub-continents
Overall, there are 28 occasions in ODI history when bowlers picked up hat-tricks. The first ever hat-trick was recorded in Hyderabad of Pakistan in 20 September 1982; achieved by Jalal-ud-Din against Australia. India's Chetan Sharma got this privilege against New Zealand in Nagpur in 31 October 1987. Kapil Dev (Calcutta, 1991 v Sri Lanka), Saqlain Mushtaq (Peshawar, 1996 v Zimbabwe), Chaminda Vaas (Colombo, 2001 v Bangladesh), Jerome Taylor (Mumbai, 2006 v Australia), Farveez Maharoof (Dambulla, 2010 v India) and Abdur Razzak (Dhaka, 2010 v Zimbabwe) are other bowlers who took hat-tricks in the sub-continent. Sarjah, UAE had 3 occasions of hat-tricks, made by Wasim Akram (1989 and 1990) twice and Aaqib Javed once (1991). So, there had been many occasions when slow pitches offered help for the fast bowlers to get 3 wickets in a row. Looking at the names above, only Saqlain Mushtaq and Abdur Razzak are the slow bowlers who took hat-tricks.
Hat-tricks at World Cup
Hat-trick at world cup has special meaning for any bowler. This is a big stage, and such achievements will give bowler a special place in the cricket history. It's an amusing stat that Lasith Malinga took Hat-trick in the last world cup as well. He did that against South Africa in Guyana in 2007 world cup. 2003 world cup in South Africa also witnessed two occasions of hat-tricks; Chaminda Vaas against Bangladesh in Pietermaritzburg and Brett Lee against Kenya in Durban. Way behind, Saqlain Mustaq made hat-trick against Zimabwe in the Oval, which was the match of 1999 World Cup. However, the first hat-trick hero in the history of world cup history was Chetan Sharma in 1987 world cup; the achievement he made against New Zealan in Nagpur.
Bowlers with two hat-tricks
Bowling 3 batsmen in 3 successive balls is itself rare achievements and pride for a bowler, but if any bowler did it twice, then? Many bowlers got it two times, making them hat-trick specialists. Let's see who made in the list.
Bowler Venue 1st Hat-trick Venue 2nd Hat-trick
1) Washim Akram Sharjah v West Indies (1989) Sharjah v Australia (1990)
2) Saqlain Mushtaq Peshawar v Zimbabwe (1996) The Oval v Zimbabwe (1999)
3) Chaminda Vaas Colombo v Zimbabwe (2001) Pietermaritzburg v Bangladesh (2003)
4) Lasith Malinga Guyana v South Africa (2007) Colombo v Kenya (2011)
Amazingly, it's all Asian bowlers who made hat-tricks twice. I wonder why Asian bowlers are able to do that so often?? Have any idea?
