First hat-tricks in all three formats of international cricket
Picking hat-trick isn’t an easy task for any bowler irrespective of the format they are bowling in. Till date, a total of 107 hat-tricks have been recorded in Men’s International cricket. As many as 45 hat-tricks came in Test cricket while 49 and 13 in ODI and T20I formats respectively. In addition, there have been 31 hat-tricks thus far in Women’s International cricket as well. Only three players have taken a hat-trick in Women’s Tests while 11 and 17 in ODIs and T20Is respectively.
Here we look at the first hat-trick recorded in each International format:
Test cricket – Frederick Spofforth in 1879:
England toured Australia for one-off Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1879. On the very first day, England were bowled out for just 113 thanks to a 6-wicket haul by Frederick Spofforth. The Australian pacer even took a hat-trick by dismissing The Revd Vernon Royle (3), Francis MacKinnon (0) and Tom Emmett (0) on consecutive deliveries at the score of 26. Spofforth’s hat-trick was the first in Test cricket and a 7-wicket haul in the second innings contributed to Australia’s 10-wicket win.
ODI Cricket – Jalal-ud-Din in 1982:
It took more than a decade for ODI cricket to witness its first hat-trick. In 1982, Australia toured Pakistan for a 3-match ODI series. The first ODI was hosted by Hyderabad where the Aussies walked to chase 230 in a restricted 40 overs. But the Aussies were restricted to just 170/9 thanks to a 4-wicket haul from Jalal-ud-Din. The right-arm pacer completed a hat-trick with the wickets of Rod Marsh (1), Bruce Yardley (0) and Geoff Lawson (0) in successive deliveries.
T20I cricket – Brett Lee in 2007:
???#OnThisDay in 2007, Australia quick Brett Lee became the first player to claim a hat-trick in T20I cricket ?#T20TakesOff pic.twitter.com/UTuIwpbl6G
— ICC (@ICC) September 16, 2020
Australian pacer Brett Lee became the first cricketer to claim a hat-trick in the T20I format during the 2007 World T20 match against Bangladesh. During the match hosted by Cape Town, Bangladesh looked towards reaching a decent score when on 108/3 in 16.2 overs but Lee’s hat-trick kept down the Asian team to 123/8. He got the wickets of Shakib Al Hasan (16), Mashrafe Mortaza (0) and Alok Kapali (0) in successive deliveries during the 17th over.
