Stats: Andrew Tye picks up third T20 hat-trick of 2017
As the format of the game condenses further and becomes more batting-friendly, notable bowling feats aren't as frequent as they used to be. However, even in this age of slam-bang cricket, there are a few bowlers who hold their own, controlling the game with their brilliant 'specialist T20' bowling. Australia's Andrew Tye is one of them.
In the fifth game of the ongoing 2017-18 BBL, Tye, playing for Perth Scorchers, took a brilliant hat-trick which was, astonishingly, his third T20 hat-trick this year. In the same tournament earlier this year, Tye had bagged three wickets in three balls and had then gone on to repeat the feat on his IPL debut for the Gujarat Lions.
Surprisingly, this was only the third hat-trick in the Big Bash's seven-year history. The first man to achieve the feat was left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty, while playing for Hobart Hurricanes against Sydney Thunder in 2012.
List of Hat-tricks in the Big Bash League:
Xavier Doherty v Sydney Thunder, 2012/13
Andrew Tye v Brisbane Heat, 2016/17
ANDREW TYE v Sydney Sixers, 2017/18
In the process, Tye became only the second bowler after Indian spinner Amit Mishra to take three T20 hat-tricks.
Mishra took all three hat-tricks in the IPL, the first while playing for Delhi against Deccan Chargers in 2008, then while representing the Kings XI Punjab against the Chargers in 2010, and finally while playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Pune Warriors in 2013.
In April 2017, Tye had become the first bowler to take a hat-trick on IPL debut. Representing Gujarat against Pune, he picked up five wickets, helping his side register their first win of the season. Tye's three victims were Ankit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary and Shardul Thakur.
Also read: Tye takes hat-trick on IPL debut
"I think it was 34 matches now to get my first IPL game. The way it came out today, it couldn't have been any better," Tye had said then.
Tye is now the third bowler to take two T20 hat-tricks for the same team. The other two are:
Lennox Cush for Guyana
Yuvraj Singh for Kings XI Punjab.
He now tops the list of bowlers with most hat-tricks in T20s:
3 Andrew Tye
3 Amit Mishra
2 Yuvraj Singh
2 Al-Amin Hossain
2 Lennox Cush
2 Tim Southee