T20 World Cup: The T20 World Cup 2022 has given many surprises and memorable performances since its start. It’s only six matches so far, but we have already seen two major upsets in the tournament. The first game saw Namibia beat Asia Cup 2022 winner Sri Lanka. Then, on Monday, Scotland stunned the West Indies.
Well, it didn’t stop there. On Tuesday, in a match between the UAE and Sri Lanka, the fans saw another brilliant performance by the young UAE leg-spinner Karthik Meiyappan. The 22-year-old registered the first hat-trick of the T20 World Cup, which came at the right time, when his team needed it the most.
It came in the 15th over of the first innings, when Karthik came out to bowl his third over. He dismissed Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Charith Asalanka, and Dasun Shanaka off consecutive deliveries.
T20 World Cup 2022: Watch- Karthik Meiyappan taking hat-trick against Sri Lanka
The 22-year-old dismissed Bhanuka (5), who tried to hit his flighted ball to a six and was caught at the long-on boundary. Then, on the fifth ball of the over, he bowled a googly to Asalanka, which took the edge and keeper Vriitya Aravind completed the catch. On the last ball of the over, he tried another googly, and the Sri Lanka skipper couldn’t pick it and got bowled, and Karthik Meiyappan completed his hat-trick.
Karthik was born in Chennai and has also been part of the Indian Premier League in his early career. He has played a total of 12 T20 internationals for the UAE and has taken 21 wickets so far. He was part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore as a net bowler in the 2020 season.
Batting first, Sri Lanka made 152/8. They needed to win this game in order to stay alive in the competition, and by a big margin. Because after losing to Namibia by over 50 runs, their NRR came down. As per the latest scorecard, they have dismissed UAE for 73 runs in 17.1 overs to win the match by 79 runs. Dushmantha Chameera and Wanindu Hasaranga picked up three wickets each.
Who took the first ever hat-trick in T20 World Cup history?
Former Australian pacer Brett Lee took the first ever hat-trick in 2007 T20 World Cup in South Africa against Zimbabwe