9 bowlers with more than one hat-trick in international cricket
Pakistan pacer Mohammad Hasnain, on Saturday, became the youngest ever bowler to take a hat-trick in T20Is, at 19 years and 183 days. Hasnain achieved the feat in the match against Sri Lanka on Saturday when he dismissed Bhanuka Rajapaksa (32), Dasun Shanaka (17) and Shehan Jayasuriya (2) off consecutive deliveries.
The hat-trick was spread across two overs as the first wicket came from the last ball of the 16th over of Sri Lanka’s innings. Hasnain’s effort was, however, in vain as the Lankans went on to win the game by 64 runs.
Hasnain's feat aside, taking a hat-trick, be it either a Test, ODI or a T20 match is a rather difficult task. After all, how high can be the probability of a bowler picking three wickets in three balls be? Very low.
As such, very few bowlers have achieved the honour of claiming a hat-trick in international cricket. However, there are a few bowlers who have actually performed the rare feat on more than once occasion.
So, here’s a look at nine bowlers with multiple hat-tricks in international cricket.
Lasith Malinga (5 hat-tricks)
When it comes to hat-tricks in international cricket, Lasith Malinga is the king. He has an unbelievable five hat-tricks in international cricket. Malinga’s first hat-trick came in the 2007 World Cup Super Eights clash against South Africa on March 28, 2007. Chasing a low total of 210, the Proteas were cruising at 206 for 5.
Malinga dismissed Shaun Pollock and Andrew Hall off the last two balls of the 45th over and then returned to send back Jacques Kallis (86) and Makhaya Ntini off the first two balls of the 47th over, making it four wickets in four balls. South Africa, however, scraped through to victory with a streaky four from Robin Peterson.
Malinga’s second hat-trick came at the World Cup in 2011, on March 1, against Kenya in a group encounter at Colombo. Kenya were struggling at 137 for 6 when Malinga trapped Tanmay Mishra lbw with the last ball of the 42nd over and then cleaned up Peter Ongondo and Shem Ngoche with the first two balls of the 44th over.
Malinga then made it four wickets in five balls by getting last-man Elijah Otieno bowled and finished with 6 for 38 as Sri Lanka won by nine wickets.
A few months later, on August 22, 2011, Malinga picked another hat-trick against Australia in the fifth match of a bilateral series at Colombo. He dismissed Mitchell Johnson (bowled), John Hastings (lbw) and Xavier Doherty (bowled) off the 2nd, 3rd and 4th delivery of the 46th over as Australia were all out for 211 and Sri Lanka won the match by four wickets.
Malinga wasn’t done yet. He added two more hat-tricks in T20s as well to take his tally to five. The first one came against Bangladesh in the second T20 of a home series at Colombo on April 6, 2017. Malinga bowled Mushfiqur Rahim out for 15, cleaned up Mashrafe Mortaza and then trapped Mehidy Hasan Miraz lbw with the 3rd, 4th and 5th ball of the 19th over. Bangladesh, however, posted 176 for 9 and won the game by 45 runs.
Malinga’s most recent hat-trick came in the 3rd T20 of the series against New Zealand played at Pallekele on September 6, 2019. New Zealand were chasing a meagre 126 to whitewash Sri Lanka 3-0. Instead, Malinga rolled back the years and picked up four wickets in four balls -- sending back Colin Munro, Hamish Rutherford, Colin de Grandhomme and Ross Taylor off the last four deliveries of the third over to seal a consolation win for Sri Lanka with sensational figures of 5 for 6.