On this day in 1987: Chetan Sharma takes India’s first hat-trick
By claiming the first-ever hat trick of the World Cup, India’s Chetan Sharma added a golden feather to his cap on this day, 36 years ago. It surely was a memorable outing for the right-arm seamer as his achievement did not go in vain and India ended up winning the game against New Zealand, back in the year 1987.
India hosted the 1987 World Cup and locked horns with New Zealand on 31st October for what was India’s last match of the group stage. Chetan Sharma’s hat trick also became the first-ever by an Indian bowler on a global platform across any format of the game.
New Zealand, captained by Jeff Crowe, made a respectable start in their first innings, scoring 182/5 in 41 overs. As Ken Rutherford had established himself at the crease, the Kiwi team appeared to be in control of the game.
However, Chetan Sharma bowled one of the most memorable overs of his career, which helped India to reduce New Zealand from 182/5 to 182/8. He had not managed to impress with his performance up to that point, and it was his sixth over of the game. But no one could have predicted what transpired in the contest after that.
Sharma bowled three dot balls before delivering an in-cutter to Rutherford. The New Zealand cricketer was unable to block the ball, and it quickly went through his stump. Sharma dismissed Ian Smith next with a similar delivery on his subsequent ball. When Ewen Chatfield was getting ready to bat the final ball of the over, Sharma and skipper Kapil Dev had a brief conversation.
Sharma’s final delivery was a little fuller than his previous two, but it still crashed through Chatfield’s stumps, cementing the Indian seamer’s place in the chronicles of cricket. In the end, New Zealand was bowled out for 221 runs while losing nine wickets. India’s response saw them win by nine wickets in 32.1 overs, and Sunil Gavaskar was named Player of the Match for his winning century.
