St. Vincent: Pace spearhead Pat Cummins scripted history as he became the first player to pick up consecutive hat-tricks in T20 World Cups during the Super 8 clash between Australia and Afghanistan in St. Vincent on Sunday. Cummins picked up the wickets of Afghan captain Rashid Khan, Karim Janat and Gulbadin Naib to achieve the feat.
The incident occurred when Cummins had picked up a wicket in the form of Rashid with the last ball of the 18th over and he was given the job to close out the innings. The pacer dismissed Janat and Naib off the first two deliveries of the final over to become the first player to pick up back-to-back hat-tricks in T20 World Cups. This was the 5th hat-trick by an Australian player in T20Is and the third one in the World Cup. Cummins also became the fourth player to have 2 hat-tricks in T20Is.
The 31-year-old had picked up a hat-trick during Australia's first Super match against Bangladesh as well. He removed Mahmudullah and Mahedi Hasan on the final two deliveries of the 18th over and then picked up the wicket of Towhid Hridoy with the first ball of the final over to complete the hat-trick. He finished with figures of 3/29.
Speaking about the achievement, the right-arm pacer joked that he had remembered about his hat-trick this time around and said it was crazy to get two hat-tricks in a row. "Yeah, I remembered that one (hattrick). Crazy. Played 100-odd games for Australia, (now) got two in a row," he said.
Afghanistan started quite brilliantly with 93/0 after 13 overs on the board, but then the batting lineup fell like a house of cards and could manage to put on a total of 148 for 6 on a challenging track. To restrict them after a great start, Cummins said it was a decent bowling effort in the end.
"I thought they batted well. But I also thought we restricted the boundaries. They obviously ran well. Overall, decent bowling effort. Not our tidiest day in the field. Happy with the total," said Cummins.
Australia need a win to ensure they and India qualify for the semi-finals.
Two Hat-tricks in T20Is
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