Fast bowler Joshua Little of Ireland became the second bowler to take a hat-trick in the current 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia on Friday after UAE leg-spinner Karthik Meiyappan.
Little accomplished the feat during Ireland’s Group 1 match in Adelaide against New Zealand, whereas Meiyappan scored his hat-trick against Sri Lanka during Round 1 (the tournament’s qualification round). At the Adelaide Oval, New Zealand scored 185/6 after being sent in to bat and was on the verge of surpassing 200 runs if it weren’t for Little’s three straight strikes in the last overs.
After Curtis Campher, Little went on to become the second Irish player to take a hat trick in the T20 World Cup. With the firings of Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Santner, and Kane Williamson, Little accomplished the goal.
Left-handed pacer With three wickets in the 19th over—Williamson for 61, Neesham for a golden duck, and Santner for a golden duck—Little slowed down New Zealand’s scoring rate in the last overs.
Little bowled two consecutive deliveries that skidded on, trapping Neesham and Santner in front of the stumps while Williamson was caught in the deep trying another huge smash. As was already established, Little now joins former Australian bowler Brett Lee, South African fast Kagiso Rabada, and Sri Lankan spinner Wanindu Hasaranga on the rare list of players who have taken a hat trick in the T20 World Cup thus far.
While Lee won the first World Cup with a hat trick, five other players have joined him in the exclusive list since the 2021 tournament, and no subsequent editions have had a hat trick.
List of Hat Tricks in T20 World Cup so far
- Brett Lee (Australia) vs Bangladesh, Cape Town, 2007
- Curtis Campher (Ireland) vs Netherlands, Abu Dhabi, 2021
- Wanindu Hasaranga (Sri Lanka) vs South Africa, Sharjah, 2021
- Kagiso Rabada (South Africa) vs England, Sharjah, 2021
- Karthik Meiyappan (UAE) vs Sri Lanka, Geelong, 2022
- Joshua Little (Ireland) vs New Zealand, Adelaide 2022
Read more: Virat Kohli Becomes Highest Run Scorer in T20 World Cup History
