Joshua Little goes into record books with memorable hat-trick against New Zealand

New Zealand’s clash against Ireland witnessed a moment of magic from Irish pacer Joshua Little, becoming only the second Irishman to claim a hat-trick at the T20 World Cups. The right-arm pacer claimed three wickets in three deliveries in the penultimate over of the first innings, becoming the second hat-trick hero of this year’s World Cup.

The Kiwis were in the ascendency after skipper Kane Williamson broke the shackles with a brisk half-century. But his belligerence was put to an end by Joshua Little in the 19th over. The Irish pacer then caught explosive all-rounder James Neesham plumb in front on the very next delivery and followed it up with another wicket in the form of Mitchell Santner to claim an unprecedented hat-trick at this stage of the tournament.

Joshua Little becomes the second cricketer to claim a hat trick in this year’s tournament

It is worth noting that his compatriot Curtis Campher was the first Irish cricketer to claim a hat-trick in T20 World Cups after scalping four wickets in four deliveries in last year’s World Cup clash against the Netherlands. Little becomes the second bowler to claim a hat-trick in this year’s edition following Karthik Meiyappan’s treble against Sri Lanka earlier in the tournament.

The 23-year old reckoned he got a bit lucky with the left handers and was confident about his side’s chances of chasing the New Zealand total. He reckoned that they can cause another upset following their win against England earlier in the tournament.

“I guess it was a little bit of tail back into the left-handers, wanted to execute it two times in a row and I got lucky to have managed it. I think I was a bit short early on, then went a bit greedy and went full. I don’t see why we can’t chase this down, time for another upset in this World Cup,” Little said in his chat with the broadcaster after his incredible milestone.