Kagiso Rabada became the third bowler in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2021 to take a hat-trick. Rabada could not believe his luck in the last over of England’s run chase as he completed his hat-trick with Chris Jordan’s wicket. The South African pacer also became the fourth bowler in the history of T20 World Cup to take a hat-trick.
Given the task to defend 14 runs off the last over by Temba Bavuma, Rabada started off with Chris Woakes’ wicket. Anrich Nortje took a fantastic catch on the edge of the boundary to cut-short Woakes’ cameo. With 14 needed off five deliveries, Eoin Morgan had to take a chance and he tried to hit the shorter and slower ball towards fine leg but could not get the timing right and found Keshav Maharaj.
New batter Jordan came to the crease and he had to swing his bat to get a maximum. Jordan tried to clear the long off boundary but did not get enough power on the shot. As David Miller completed the catch, Rabada was in splits as he did not expect to take a hat-trick off not his best deliveries after getting tonked for fours and sixes in his first three overs.
Rabada finished the match as the most expensive bowler but the last over he bowled helped South Africa end England’s winning run and beat the table toppers by 10 runs. He also became the first South African bowler to take a hat-trick in both limited-overs format. His ODI hat-trick came against Bangladesh in 2015.
Before Rabada, Sri Lankan leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga and Ireland pacer Curtis Campher had registered a hat-trick in the tournament. He also joined former Australian pacer Brett Lee who was the first bowler to take a hat-trick in T20 World Cup in the inaugural edition.
