Hat-trick heroes: First to take a T20I hat-trick from each team

Hat-tricks in any form of cricket are hard to come by. But as a bowler, you'd assume T20 cricket would be the best format to achieve the feat - with batters often having no choice but to go hell for leather.



This week, Women’s CricZone brings you the first player from each country to take a T20I hat-trick. The list is long, so you may want to pace your innings!



 



Asmavia Iqbal (Pakistan)

Pakistan v England

5 Sep 2012



© Getty Images



Asmavia Iqbal became the first bowler in history to take T20I hat-trick against England in the second game of Pakistan's tour of England in Loughborough in September 2012. And it came in an unusual fashion.



Bowling first, Pakistan started off on a tight note with Iqbal giving Pakistan the first breakthrough when she had Laura Marsh caught by Nida Dar on the final ball of the third over. She was taken out of the attack but returned in the tenth over to remove a dangerous-looking Sarah Taylor and Arran Brindle off the final two balls of that over. Removed from the attack again, the right-arm pacer finally achieved the feat when she dismissed Danielle Wyatt off the first ball of the final over. Pakistan lost the match by 81 runs, but that was also the only instance where the team lost the match despite a player taking a hat-trick.



Iqbal retired from the game in 2018. Only former skipper Sana Mir, who also announced her international retirement a couple of months back, has taken a T20I hat-trick for Pakistan.



 



Ekta Bisht (India)

India v Sri Lanka

3 Oct 2012



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Barely a month after Iqbal became the first to claim a T20I hat-trick, Ekta Bisht did the same for India (across genders) when she rattled through Sri Lanka's lower order in the final over during the 2012 T20 World Cup in Colombo. Put in to bat first, Sri Lanka were never in control of the game losing wickets at regular intervals. Having conceded just 14 runs in her first three overs, the left-arm orthodox bowler Bisht turned the game upon its head when she dismissed Dilani Manodara, Yashoda Mendis and Eshani Kaushalya off successive deliveries. Sandamali Dolawatte was run out in the penultimate delivery as Sri Lanka were restricted to 100 for 8 in 20 overs. In reply, India outplayed the hosts by nine wickets reaching the target in 14.4 overs.



 



Marizanne Kapp (South Africa)

South Africa v Bangladesh

14 Sep 2013



© Cricket South Africa/Twitter



It was Marizanne Kapp’s day at Potchesfroom on September 14, 2013. Already 1-0 up in the three-match series, Bangladesh composed a slow start after winning the toss, requiring 12 overs to cross 50, but made sure they had nine wickets still in hand. However, they failed to take advantage of the situation with Ayasha Rahman, top-scorer with 34, holing out to long-off in the 13th over. Although Lata Mondal held firm at one end it was Kapp who waved her magic want in the final over - the 19th of the innings - bowling a triple-wicket maiden. Rumana Ahmed was the first to go edging behind the stumps before both Ritu Moni and Fahima Khatun were clean bowled. All three fell without scoring and Bangladesh managed only 84 for 6 in 20 overs. Kapp finished with figures 4-1-6-4. In reply, South Africa took only 11.3 overs to win the match by nine wickets.



 



Natalie Sciver (England)

England v New Zealand

22 Oct 2013



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Natalie Sciver became the first England player to take a T20I hat-trick when she dismantled New Zealand's middle-order to hand England a 19-run win to book their place in the final of the T20 tri-series in Barbados. Set a target of 126, New Zealand rode on a 51-ball 46 from opener Suzie Bates to reach 74 for 1 after 13.3 overs. However, the wicket of Sophie Devine - caught and bowled Sciver - triggered a collapse that New Zealand couldn’t recover from as they lost their last six wickets in final two overs to be all out for 106. Bowling the penultimate over, Sciver removed Maddy Green (caught), Erin Bermingham (bowled) and Frances Mackay (lbw) off the final three balls of her spell to finish with figures of 4 for 21. She was ably supported by Jenny Gunn whose incisive spell of 5 for 18 saw her become the first English bowler to take a 5-for in T20Is.



 



Anna Peterson (New Zealand)

New Zealand v Australia

19 Feb 2017



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After Molly Strano's five-fer saw New Zealand limp to 101 for 9 in Geelong, Australia looked set to seal the three-match T20I series with a game to spare before rain intervened. Chasing a revised target of 70 runs in 13 overs, Australia were still in the hunt needing 11 runs off the final over with five wickets in hand, and Jess Jonassen and Alyssa Healy at the crease. However, allrounder Anna Peterson, bowling her first over of the match, turned the tables with her triple-strike. She first had Jonassen caught skying an attempted slog, followed it up with the wicket of Healy, who was also caught trying to clear the field, before completing the hat-trick when Megan Schutt slogged a catch to mid-wicket. Peterson’s strikes left Australia needing 11 off three balls, which was far too tall a task for tailenders Amanda-Jade Wellington and Strano. With this, she became the first New Zealander to take an international hat-trick in 20 years.



The last time a New Zealander claimed an international hat-trick was in February 1996, when Emily Drumm achieved the feat in an ODI against Australia in Adelaide.



 



Megan Schutt (Australia)

Australia v India

26 Mar 2018



© CA Digital



Known for doing early damage with her devastating swing, Megan Schutt had India on the ropes in their chase of 187 in the tri-nation series in Mumbai. Having begun her spell by conceding 10 runs off the first four balls of the second over of the game, the right-armer bowled Smriti Mandhana and then shattered the base of Mithali Raj’s off stump, when the batter wafted at an in-swinger that ricocheted off the inside edge. Then, returning after a change of ends two overs later, Schutt had Deepti Sharma caught at mid-off off the first delivery of her second over to complete a rather strange - and largely unnoticed - hat-trick. With India reduced to 26 for 3, Jemimah Rodrigues (50), Harmanpreet Kaur (33) and Anuja Patil (38) tried their very best to keep the hosts in the hunt, but they still fell 37 runs short.



 



Fahima Khatun (Bangladesh)

Bangladesh v United Arab Emirates

10 Jul 2018



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Put into bat first in an ICC Women’s T20 Qualifier in 2018, United Arab Emirates failed to negotiate Fahima Khatun’s leg-spin as they were bundled out for just 39 runs 16.2 overs. In her four-over spell, Fahima picked up four wickets including a hat-trick conceding just eight runs in the process. She started her hunt removing UAE's star batter Nisha Ali in her second over before coming back later to dismiss Esha Rohit, Udeni Dona and Kavisha Egodage in three successive deliveries in her third over to enter the history books. Bangladesh, in reply, took just 6.5 overs to overhaul the target.



 



Anisa Mohammed (West Indies)

West Indies v South Africa

19 Sep 2018



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Having toppled the visitors in the first match of the T20I series, West Indies went into the second encounter with their tails up. Having elected to bowl first, the hosts had South Africa on the mat removing Lizelle Lee and Sune Luus for ducks before skipper Dane van Niekerk dug her heels in and batted deep into the innings. She stuck around for a painstaking 36 off 48 balls, and was involved in a 50-run fourth wicket stand with Mignon du Preez (27) before becoming Anisa Mohammed’s first victim. The Proteas couldn’t recover from that loss as Mohammed accounted for four wickets in the last over including a hat-trick. Having dismissed van Niekerk off the second ball of the over, she sent back the trio of Marizanne Kapp, Saarah Smith and Masabata Klaas off the last three deliveries of the innings to finish with 5 for 24, her third five-for in T20Is and second against South Africa.



Chasing, 102, West Indies overhauled the target in 16 overs with nine wickets in hand.



 



Chanida Sutthiruang (Thailand)

Thailand v China

18 Feb 2019



© ICC



Thailand have been in the headlines for all the good reasons for the past couple of years. On February 18, 2019, Chanida Sutthiruang made it more memorable as the right-arm pacer became the first Thai cricketer to take a T20I hat-trick when she achieved the feat against China in the T20 World Cup Asia Region Qualifier in Bangkok. Reduced to an eight overs-a-side encounter, Thailand opted to bowl after winning the toss. Sutthiruang was bang on from the start. Opening the attack, she conceded just two runs in the first over, before returning to dismiss Caiyun Zhou, Zheng Lili and Huang Zhuo in the first three balls of the third over to go into the history books. China didn’t go far after that finishing at 32 for 7 which Thailand chased down with a ball to spare, thanks to a boundary from Suthhiruang to get them over the line.



 



Rubina Chhetri (Nepal)

Nepal v Kuwait

27 Feb 2019



© ICC



While Anjali Chand’s career-best T20I figures of 6/0 including a hat-trick made its way to all the leading media outlets globally, it is unknown to many that Rubina Chhetri was in fact the first to claim a hat-trick for Nepal. She achieved the feat against Kuwait T20 World Cup Asia Region Qualifier in Bangkok in 2019. Chasing Nepal’s 116, Kuwait’s chase was all but over as they required 35 from the last over. Chhetri, who bowled the last over conceded four runs in the first three balls before disturbing the woodwork of Khadija Khalil, Madeeha Zuberi and Zeefa Jilani in the last three to complete her hat-trick giving Nepal a 30-run victory.



 



Blessing Etim (Nigeria)

Nigeria v Mozambique

6 May 2019



© ICC



As her name suggests, Blessing Etim blessed Nigeria with a hat-trick early on in their T20 World Cup Africa Region Qualifier last year against Mozambique. Conceding just a single in her first over, she returned in her second to dismiss Rosalia Haiong, Palmira Cuinica and Olga Mondlane to leave Mozambique at 3 for 3 in 2.4 overs. They eventually finished at 93 for 7 which Nigeria chased down in 18.3 overs with eight wickets in hand.



 



Concy Aweko (Uganda)

Uganda v Kenya

8 May 2019



Just a couple of days after Blessing Etim’s heroics, Uganda’s Concy Aweko repeated the same when she took a hat-trick against Kenya in the same tournament at the Old Hararians ground in Harare. Chasing 101 to win, it was a must-win game for Kenya as they required run-a-ball six runs to tie the game in the last over. Aweko, who had figures of 3-0-10-0 before the final over, dismissed Sylvia Kinyua in the second ball for a valiant 57-ball 40 to hit hard Kenya’s chances before claiming Venasa Ooko, Esther Wachira and Mercyline Ochieng in the final three balls to claim a memorable victory.



 



Kary Chan (Hong Kong)

Hong Kong v China

19 Sep 2019



© Kary Chan/ Twitter



Hong Kong skipper Kary Chan went into the history books when she single-handedly turned the tables to give her team a five run win over China in an encounter of the T20 East Asia Cup last year. Chasing Hong Kong’s 84 for 5, China needed just seven runs of the final over to cap a memorable victory. But Chan dashed all their hopes dismissing Huang Zhuo, Wu Juan and Li Haoye off successive deliveries to clinch a memorable victory.