Hat-tricks in IPL

When Axar Patel took a hat-trick in the ongoing IPL, we went down memory lane, looking at like performances, right from the inaugural year in 2008.

The only bowler to bag a hat-trick thrice in the IPL is Amit Mishra. Here he is ecstatic, as is his captain Cameron White, after felling three Pune Warriors while turning out for Sunrisers Hyderabad.

The pioneer: Lakshmipathy Balaji for CSK v Kings XI Punjab, 2008: After scalping Ramnaresh Sarwan and the big-hitting Shaun Marsh in the Indian Premier League’s opening season, the best was still to come from Balaji. Foxing Irfan Pathan with a slower one, just short of length, the crafty paceman lured the left-hander to play straight into square-leg Suresh Raina’s hands, off the third ball of the last over. Sensing Piyush Chawla’s urge to hit out, Balaji next lobbed a full toss, which was lofted by the all-rounder to Chamara Kapugadera, who completed a simple catch. Off the fifth ball, he engineered an edge from V.R.V. Singh to Dhoni. With a bag of five for 24, Balaji was laughing all the way to the bank.

Hat-trick of hat-tricks:

Amit Mishra accomplished the feat first for Delhi Daredevils in 2008, for Deccan Chargers in 2011 and Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2012. Mishra was at his miserly best, not only cleaning up Deccan Chargers’ tail with the first three balls of the last over, but ending with a haul of five for 15. Against Kings XI Punjab at Dharamsala, Mishra took niggardliness to new levels, taking four for nine. Along the way he ripped through the middle order, removing Ryan McLaren, Mandeep Singh and Ryan Harris. Against Pune Warriors, Mishra felled Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rahul Sharma and Ashok Dinda to set up an enthralling victory.

Makhaya Ntini for CSK v KKR, 2008

The Protean tearaway uprooted Sourav Ganguly’s middle stump off the last ball of the fifth over. The former Indian skipper had aimed at smearing the speedster all over the sightscreen. South Africa’s first black international cricketer then sent Debabrata Baidya Das’ leg stump on a somersault with a low full toss. The burly Bengal batsman had intended to cart the paceman over mid-off, but was a shade slow to put bat to ball. The toothy smile was again at 100-watt intensity when Ntini sent David Hussey’s leg stump cartwheeling. The Australian batsman was a little late in intercepting the missile while failing to protect his woodwork.

Yuvraj Singh for Kings XI Punjab v Royal Challengers Bangalore and Deccan Chargers, 2009:

The mercurial all-rounder shot down three big names off his last two deliveries in the 12th over and off the first of the 14th. Reading rightly that Robin Uthappa was raring to rip the ball apart, Yuvraj extracted a top edge. With the next, he knocked down Jacques Kallis’ off-stick with an arm ball. Deploying the same weapon, a little faster this time, he trapped Mark Boucher in front of the timbers. Against the Chargers, the left-arm spinner had Hershcelle Gibbs snapped up by a diving Piyush Chawla off the last ball of the 12th over, Andrew Symonds stumped by Sangakkara off the first ball of the 14th over and then uprooted Venugopal Rao’s off-stump with the next delivery.

Rohit Sharma for Deccan Chargers v Mumbai Indians, 2009:

There was neither too much speed nor scorching spin. Sharma’s flattish delivery — the fifth ball of the 16th over — to his Mumbai-mate Abhishek Nayar skidded into the leg stump. All too aware of Harbhajan Singh’s penchant for playing the sweep shot, Sharma slipped one in short outside off. The ball, instead of racing towards fine leg, grazed the bottom of ‘Bhajji’s’ bat and rattled the woodwork. Off the first ball of the 18th, Sharma lured JP Duminy to pull. Waiting with bated breath, Adam Gilchrist behind the wickets gloved the edge.

Praveen Kumar for RCB v Rajasthan Royals, 2010:

‘PK’ unleashed a bomb at Damien Martyn’s bootlaces with the third ball of the 17th over. If the yorker was short on speed, it was spot-on when it came to the point of impact, castling the elegant Aussie. Out of position, Sumit Narwal’s pull against a bouncer fell short, as fine leg Manish Pandey juggled a bit before clutching the ball. For Paras Dogra, Kumar bowled a straighter one. The ball was swift and knocked the middle stump out.

Ajit Chandila for RR v Pune Warriors India, 2012:

To open the attack with Ajit Chandila was a master-stroke, as the first over would prove. Jesse Ryder’s drive didn’t quite find the meat of the bat off the penultimate ball. Shane Watson back-tracked from mid-on, got under the descending ball and closed his palms over it. Chandila’s off-break then drew out the Kiwi’s fellow-opener Sourav Ganguly but beat his bat outside leg. Shreevats Goswami, in a trice, swept the bails aside. Robin Uthappa stepped out to the first ball of the third over, was sluggish in regaining his ground and Goswami did the rest.

Sunil Narine for Kolkata Knight Riders v Kings XI Punjab, 2013:

Slow through the air, the pace in Sunil Narine’s fourth delivery of the innings’ 15th over perked up, grazing David Hussey’s blade. The ball bounced off Manvinder Bisla’s chest, but the stumper clutched it. Azhar Mahmood was the Trinidadian tweaker’s next victim, lobbing back a simple catch to the bowler. Gurkeerat Singh tried to nudge the Mohawk-maned mystery spinner’s rapidly racing and sorcerous carom ball to the leg side. The Punjab batsman was beaten all ends up, his off stump left leaning back.

Pravin Tambe for Rajasthan Royals v Kolkata Knight Riders, 2014:

Few expected 42-year-old Pravin Tambe to grab the spotlight the way he did against Kolkata Knight Riders. Manish Pandey trotted out of the crease to cream the wrist-spinner, whose line was well outside leg. Caught hopelessly out of bounds, Pandey turned around to see stumper Sanju Samson dislodge the bails. Exploiting Yusuf Pathan’s impatience with the full toss, Tambe got the burly batsman to pop a catch back to him off the second delivery of the 16th over. Ryan ten Doeschate saw a flighted ball heading his way next. With due respect, he went to play the forward defensive shot, but was struck on the toe and adjudged leg before wicket.

Shane Watson for Rajasthan Royals v Sunrisers Hyderabad, 2014:

The strapping Australian fetched the Royals its second hat-trick in Ahmedabad, which was turning out to be almost a home away from home, considering the highs the Gujarat capital gave the northern side. Shikhar Dhawan’s outside edge, off the last ball of the fourth over, thudded into the off-stump. Moises Henriques tonked a good length delivery, the first of the 17th to long off, where Ajinkya Rahane held the catch. Slanting it into Karn Sharma, Watson, a fine exponent of reverse swing, then squeezed a snick out of the southpaw, which ’keeper Sanju Samson gladly accepted.

Axar Patel for Kings XI Punjab v Gujarat Lions, 2016:

The left-arm spinner had Dinesh Karthik chopping on to his leg stump off a quicker fifth ball of the seventh over. Dwayne Bravo’s dismissal off the next delivery was not much different as he heard the fatal rattle of timber behind him. The 22-year-old native of Anand, the nation’s milk capital in Gujarat, resumed his duties on the firing line in the 11th over. Off the first ball and set to complete the hat-trick, the wiry southpaw didn’t disappoint. He got the ball to shoot off Ravindra Jadeja’s outer edge and into Wriddhiman Saha’s gloves, prompting the umpire to raise his finger.