[Watch] Yuzvendra Chahal recreates iconic meme to celebrate stunning hat-trick
In one of the rarest feats, Rajasthan Royals (RR) leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal had two hat-trick opportunities in the same over against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). He managed to grab one and bag a hat-trick at the Brabourne Stadium on Monday.
He dismissed Shreyas Iyer and all-rounders Shivam Mavi and Pat Cummins on consecutive deliveries to bag his first IPL hat-trick. Iyer's wicket was the biggest of all as the KKR skipper was trapped LBW by a googly for 85 (51).
Mavi went out trying to slog it first ball. Cummins tried to play it safe on the hat-trick ball but Chahal's leg-break was too good not to take his outside edge on to the wicketkeeper.
Chahal, who had missed a hat-trick earlier in the season due to a dropped catch by Karun Nair, ran in ebullience, jumped, put in a slide, and lay sideways nonchalantly.
This was an apparent recreation of his viral meme-fest sparking picture, from 2019. You can find the hat-trick and the celebration here:
It was also the first hat-trick of the season. The 31-year-old had a chance to get there once before in the same over as well.
He dismissed Nitish Rana on the last ball of the 13th over and followed it up by getting Venkatesh Iyer out on the first ball of the 14th. Sheldon Jackson was on strike for this hat-trick delivery and managed to fend it out. But as soon as the wicketkeeper left the strike, the leg-spinner ran through the rest of the batting lineup.
Catch the latest IPL score here every day!
Yuzvendra Chahal's hat-trick stops KKR seven-run short of the 218-run target
Yuzvendra 'Legendary' Chahal. What a player. 💗 https://t.co/jlso7sEnhQ
The RR leg-spinner concluded the innings with five wickets, reducing the KKR to 180-8 after 17 overs. The hat-trick came at the perfect time as Iyer was looking brilliant and both Cummins and Mavi could've supported him in finishing things off.
Pacer Umesh Yadav showed some unexpected fight in the lower order but it wasn't enough as the two-time champions fell short by seven runs.