Sri Lankan all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga has done the unthinkable. He has successfully taken a hattrick in the T20 World Cup and that too against a team as strong as South Africa and with this, Sri Lanka had reached a point from where they could quite comfortably secure a win against the T20 giants which even before the match started, was looking to be quite impossible given the squad depth of South Africa. They could then envision their dream of qualifying for the knockouts from a group as difficult as the Group 1 and all thanks to Wanindu Hasaranga. Unfortunately, South Africa sealed the match in the second last delivery but the contribution of Wanindu Hasaranga cannot be downplayed.
Well Hasaranga had had quite a rough patch before the T20 World Cup in T20 leagues around the world. The Royal Challengers Bangalore had signed him for the second leg, ie, the UAE leg of the competition but he failed to impress. He did not get many chances in the few matches that he played in, he was below par. So he was dropped from the starting XI soon and then RCB got eliminated in the Eliminators against KKR.
Fortunately enough, he has regained his form now and is doing wonders with the national side in the ongoing tournament. In his hattrick, he took the important wickets of South Africa captain Tenda Bavuma, Aiden Markram who scored a brilliant 50 in the last match, and Dwaine Pretorius. All three of the big wickets.
Unfortunately the other bowlers of Sri Lanka failed to capitalise on the advantage that Hasaranga won for them and South Africa ended up winning the match.
Hat-tricks in men’s T20 World Cup:-
- Brett Lee v BAN, 2007
- Curtis Campher v NETH, 2021
- Wanindu Hasaranga vs SA, 2021