5 players who picked up a hat-trick in a losing cause in T20Is ft. Pat Cummins
T20 is a batter's game. With boundaries getting shorter, flat pitches, and a wide range of innovative shots being played by batters, it is seldom that bowlers get assistance from the wicket in the shortest format.
To date, there have been only 60 hat-tricks picked up in men's T20Is. While most hat-tricks have resulted in wins for their respective teams, there have been a few that have come in losing causes. In this article, we'll discuss five hat-tricks by players from Test playing nations in matches their team lost.
#1 Pat Cummins:
After picking up a match-winning hat-trick against Bangladesh in Antigua on June 20, 2024, Cummins picked up another hat-trick in the Super Eights of the T20 World Cup 2024 against Afghanistan on June 22, 2024.
Rashid Khan was Cummins' first victim, caught at long-on by Tim David on the last ball of the 18th over. Karim Janat was his second scalp, again caught by Tim David on the first ball of the 20th over. Cummins followed it up with the dismissal of Gulbadin Naib on the second ball of the final over as he was caught by Glenn Maxwell.
Riding on the performance of Pat Cummins, Australia restricted Afghanistan to 148/6 in 20 overs. Australia, however, failed to accelerate the pace of the innings and fell short of the target by 21 runs.
#2 Tim Southee:
The Kiwi pacer picked up a hat-trick against India in Mount Maunganui on November 20, 2022. It came during the last over of India's innings when the batters were looking to accelerate.
Hardik Pandya, the Indian skipper for the game, was his first victim, caught by James Neesham at long off. Deepak Hooda was caught on the next ball at short fine leg by Lockie Ferguson. Southee followed up by picking up the wicket of Washington Sundar, his third in three balls.
Despite Southee's hat-trick, India put on a total of 191/6 and won the game comfortably by a margin of 65 runs.
#3 Akila Dananjaya:
March 3, 2021, was a day of mixed feelings for the Sri Lankan spinner Akila Dananjaya.
Chasing a modest target of 132 in Antigua, the West Indies blasted their way to 52 runs in 3.1 overs. Dananjaya dismissed opener Evin Lewis on the next delivery as he was caught by Danushka Gunathalika at long-off. He then trapped Chris Gayle in front of the stumps. Nicholas Pooran was dismissed caught behind on the hat-trick ball, and the Sri Lankans were overjoyed.
However, in his next over, i.e. the sixth of the innings, Kieron Pollard smashed him for six sixes off six deliveries and shifted the momentum towards the home team.
West Indies chased the target in 13.1 overs with four wickets in hand.
#4 Lasith Malinga:
The Sri Lankan pacer has the distinction of picking up two T20I hat-tricks. While his hat-trick against New Zealand in 2019 came in a winning cause, his hat-trick in Colombo in 2017 against Bangladesh was in a losing cause.
The hat-trick was during the penultimate over of the innings when Bangladesh were batting. Malinga clean bowled Mushfiqur Rahim on the third ball and followed it up by cleaning out Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza on the next delivery. Mehidy Hasan Miraz was dismissed leg before wicket on the fifth delivery and Malinga had a hat-trick to his name.
Sri Lanka, however, fell short of the 177-run target by 45 runs, and Malinga's hat-trick went in vain.
#5 Josh Little:
Josh Little picked up a hat-trick in a losing cause against New Zealand during the T20 World Cup 2022.
During the penultimate over of the innings when New Zealand were batting, he dismissed New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson, who was caught at deep backward square leg by Gareth Delany. James Neesham and Mitchell Santner were dismissed leg before wicket on the next two deliveries and Little bagged a hat-trick.
Ireland failed to chase the target of 186 set by the Kiwis and ended up 35 runs short.