All-rounders who have taken a hat-trick and scored a 50 in the same Test match
Each and every side in the world wants to have an all-rounder in the side who can change the course of a game with both the bat and the ball.
Over the years, Test cricket has seen outstanding performances from plenty of all-rounders and many of them have gone on to become legends of the game.
That being said, there are certain performances that are so rare that they have happened only a handful of times in the long and eventful history of Test cricket.
Now, hat-tricks are rare in any form of the game but if a player ends up getting a half-century on top of that, then it becomes a performance for the ages.
Such an all-round effort is something that will go down in the record books as some of the most exceptional efforts in cricket history and it is not a surprise that it has happened only four times in Test cricket history. Here is a look at each of them.
#4 William Bates against Australia at Melbourne, 1883
The Yorkshireman was responsible for flattening Australia in first Test of the Ashes back in 1883 and he did so with an all-round performance that was not repeated in 112 years.
Although William Bates had opened the batting for Yorkshire, he batted at No. 9 and made a crucial 55 as England made 294 in the first innings.
When Australia batted, Bates’ right arm off-spin proved too hot to handle and he ripped the heart out of the opposition middle-order by picking up a hat-trick.
He removed No. 4, Percy McDonnell, No. 5 George Giffen and No. 6 George Bonnor with the score at 78.
Bates ended up with figures of 7 for 28 in 26.2 overs as Australia were all out for 114. England enforced the follow-on and Bates picked 7 for 74 in the 2nd innings to bundle the hosts out for 153.
England won the game by an innings and 27 runs, but the headline was one of the greatest all-round performances in Test history by William Bates.