Wanindu Hasaranga became only the third player in T20 World Cup history to bag a hat-trick, joining Brett Lee and Curtis Campher.
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Wanindu Hasaranga became the fourth Sri Lankan to bag a hat-trick in T20Is in Saturday’s Super 12 match of the T20 World Cup in Sharjah. He became only the third player in T20 World Cup history to do so, joining Brett Lee and Curtis Campher. The leg-spinner stunned the in-form Aiden Markram with a googly on the last ball of his penultimate over. Temba Bavuma pulled a half-tracker towards deep mid-wicket in the next over. Pathum Nissanka, who was stationed there, perfectly timed his leap to end the South African captain’s stay in the middle for a run-a-ball 46. Dwaine Pretorius faced the hat-trick ball and hit it straight down Bhanuka Rajapaksa’s throat. It was as simple as it gets for the leggie, who ran to celebrate with the entire Sri Lankan team rallying behind him.
When Rabada failed to read it and was hit on the pad, Hasaranga almost got four-in-four. Sri Lanka reviewed the on-field umpire’s no-out call, but discovered that the ball had pitched outside leg.
Lee bagged the first hat-trick in T20Is against Bangladesh in the 2007 T20 World Cup. Campher of Ireland took four wickets in four balls against the Netherlands in this year’s first round of the competition.
Other Sri Lankans with a T20I hat-trick include Lasith Malinga (twice), Thisara Perera, and Akila Dananjaya. It is also worth noting that Hasaranga picked a hat-trick against Zimbabwe in his ODI debut.
David Miller was back at his absolute finishing best on Saturday as he played an explosive cameo to win a nail-biting match for South Africa against Sri Lanka in the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. The pressure was just too much for Lahiru Kumara who was asked to bowl the final over and defend 15 runs.
Hasaranga displayed an exceptional performance with the ball on the day as he picked an incredible hat-trick but it was in vain. Hasaranga dismissed the likes of Aiden Markram, skipper Temba Bavuma, and Dwaine Pretorius to completely disrupt the Proteas’ run chase. Sri Lanka recorded a score of 142 in 20 overs and the Proteas made 146-6.
The win will give immense confidence to South Africa for the rest of the competition. There seemed a point when Sri Lanka seemed to be well on their way to record the victory due to the Hasaranga hat-trick but Miller completely turned the tables.
There were a number of South Africa batters that got off to a decent start. However, nobody except skipper Bavuma could get a good score. The Proteas skipper played a fine knock, scoring 46 runs off 46 deliveries in an innings that included one boundary and one maximum. Markram got a few runs as well on the day as he scored 19 runs off 20 balls. Rassie van der Dussen played a short cameo of 16 runs in 11 deliveries.
However, it was the heavy-hitting of Miller that ultimately saw the Proteas home. The batter scored an unbeaten 23 runs off just 13 deliveries and hit two humongous maximums in the final over to turn the tide of the match in his team’s favour. Things were finished off by Kagiso Rabada with a boundary as he scored an unbeaten 13 off seven deliveries.
