Taking a hat-trick is one of the biggest individual achievements for a bowler, on a cricket field. The joy of dismissing three batsmen with consecutive deliveries is unparalleled.
In this article, we will have a look at all the hat-tricks that bowlers have taken in ICC World Cup cricket.
Since the inception of World Cup cricket in 1975, there have been 7 hat-tricks, by 6 different bowlers. This means, there have been only 7 hat-tricks in 46 years of World Cup cricket. And this is why it is a very special feat.
LIST OF HAT-TRICKS IN WORLD CUP CRICKET:
1987: Chetan Sharma (India) v New Zealand (Ken Rutherford, Ian Smith, Ewen Chatfield)
1999: Saqlain Mushtaq (Pakistan) v Zimbabwe (Henry Olonga, Adam Huckle, Pommie Mbangwa)
2003: Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka) v Bangladesh (Hannan Sarkar, Mohammad Ashraful, Ehsanul Haque)
2003: Brett Lee (Australia) v Kenya (Kennedy Otieno, Brijal Patel, David Obuya)
2007: Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka) v South Africa (Shaun Pollock, Andrew Hall, Jacques Kallis, Makhaya Ntini)
2011: Kemar Roach (West Indies) v Netherlands (Pieter Seelaar, Bernard Loots, Berend Westdijk)
2011: Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka) v Kenya (Tanmay Mishra, Peter Ongondo, Shem Ngoche)
2015: Steven Finn (England) v Australia (Brad Haddin, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Johnson)
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We can see that Sri Lanka’s ace bowler Lasith Malinga is the only bowler in the world to take 2 hat-tricks in World Cup cricket. Also, Sri Lanka (3), as a team, has the most number of hat-tricks in World Cup cricket.
HISTORY:
India’s fast bowler Chetan Sharma took the first hat-trick of World Cup cricket in 1987 World Cup.
Pakistani spinner Saqlain Mushtaq is the only spinner in this list. His hat-trick came against Zimbabwe in 199 World Cup.
ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 and 2011, both witnessed two hat-tricks; Chaminda Vaas and Brett Lee in 2003 and Kemar Roach and Lasith Malinga in 2011 respectively.
Lasith Malinga is the only bowler to take 4 wickets in consecutive balls. He achieved this rare feat in 2007 World Cup, in the match against South Africa.
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By The Cricket Lounge
