[Watch]: Joshua Little becomes the second player to bag a hattrick in T20 World Cup 2022
Joshua Little became a part of history as he picked up the second hat trick by an Irish player in T20 World Cup history after Curtis Campher. Little accomplished the feat during Ireland's Super 12s clash against New Zealand on Friday (November 4).
The pacer picked up the big wickets of Kane Williamson, James Neesham, and Mitchell Santner in the 19th over. By doing so, Little became the second bowler after the UAE's Karthik Meiyappan to register a hat-trick in this edition of the tournament.
The Kiwis seemed to be cruising to a score in excess of 200 as their skipper Williamson went all guns blazing, racing to 61 off just 34 balls. However, a short ball from Joshua Little got the opposition skipper in a tangle and he could only pull it straight into the hands of deep square leg.
The wickets of Neesham and Santner were almost carbon copies of each other. Little hit the good length and the ball skidded off the pitch and trapped the southpaws right in front of the stumps.
Here's the hat-trick video:
Joshua Little ensured NZ didn't cross 200
New Zealand were asked to bat first and got off to a rolicking start, thanks to Finn Allen who continued to show how dangerous he is in the powerplay. His quickfire 32 helped skipper Kane Williamson ease into his innings.
Although Devon Conway struggled at one end, Williamson seemed to be batting on a completely different surface as he took the attack to the Irish bowlers. He scored 61 off just 35 balls and shut down all his critics after receiving criticism for his slow scoring rate.
14*(14) to 61(35) by Kane Williamson, he find touches in big moments and when team needed the most for Kiwis.
Captain Kane leading from front. https://t.co/ItUl2EzjnJ
Joshua Little's spell of 3/22 ensured that Ireland finished fell with the ball. However, the target of 186 will still be tricky and the Kiwis will back themselves to win and qualify for the semifinals.
Ireland were 10/0 after two overs at the time of writing with Paul Stirling and skipper Andrew Balbirnie at the crease.
New Zealand (Playing XI): Finn Allen, Devon Conway (wk), Kane Williamson (c), Glenn Phillips, James Neesham, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult.
Ireland (Playing XI): Paul Stirling, Andrew Balbirnie (c), Lorcan Tucker (wk), Harry Tector, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Gareth Delany, Mark Adair, Fionn Hand, Barry McCarthy, Joshua Little.