Rwanda's Henriette Ishimwe created history in the ongoing women's Under-19 T20 World Cup. Henriette became the first bowler to take a double hat-trick in a women's World Cup event (any format). The double hat-trick helped Rwanda beat Zimbabwe by 39 runs.
If men’s cricket is considered, former Sri Lankan skipper Lasith Malinga took a double hat-trick in ODI World Cup 2007 against South Africa. Till January 17, 2023, Malinga was the only bowler to take a double hat-trick in a World Cup event.
The collapse of epic proportion kicked off in the 18th over when Adel Zimunu got run out. Skipper Gisele Ishimwe gave the ball to Henriette. The 18-year-old capitalised on the pressure as Rwanda needed 40 runs in the last two overs.
Henriette started off with the wicket of Kudzai Chigora. The lower-order-batter got bowled. Olinder Chare was trapped in front of the wickets for a golden duck. Tailenders Chipo Moyo and Faith Ndlalambi got out for golden ducks as well.
In the first three overs, she conceded just 13 runs. No batter from the Zimbabwe side managed to score with a strike rate of 100 as they played too many dot balls.
Earlier, Rwanda were put to bat first by Zimbabwe skipper Kelis Ndhlovu. The opening partnership was of 49 from 10.4 overs. Opener Merveille Uwase scored 18 runs from 33 deliveries. Skipper Gisele upped the scoring rate in the middle overs. Meanwhile, opener Cynthia Tuyizere got run out after scoring 30 runs from 44 deliveries.
Gisele scored 34 runs from 23 deliveries including five boundaries. Rwanda lost five wickets for just six runs in the slog overs. Three wickets fell in the final over. Henriette could not do much damage with the bat and got out after scoring four runs from 10 deliveries in the final over.
This was not the first instance of a bowler taking a double hat-trick in women’s cricket. Germany's bowler of Indian-origin, Anuradha Doddaballapur took a double hat-trick against Austria in 2020.
This was Rwanda's first win of the tournament in Group B which includes England and Pakistan. In the first game, Rwanda lost to Pakistan by eight wickets. Rwanda managed to score 106/8 which was easily chased down by Pakistan with 13 balls to spare.
