UAE’s Karthik Meiyappan rattles Sri Lanka with hat-trick, becomes fifth in T20 World Cup history to achieve feat

UAE leg-spinner Karthik Meiyappan on Tuesday became the first bowler to take a hat-trick in the ongoing T20 World Cup in Australia during the Group A fixture against Sri Lanka in Geelong.

Sri Lanka were going strong in the middle overs after UAE opted to field, reaching 117/2 in the 15th over before the UAE spinner of Indian origin struck.

Southpaw Bhanuka Rajapaksa was the first to depart, holing out to the fielder standing near the cover boundary to fall for 5, before Charith Asalanka and skipper Dasun Shanaka departed in the next two balls. Meiyappan got Asalanka caught-behind before breaching Shanaka’s defence to rattle the stumps behind him.

Well done Karthik Meiyappan. Sometimes you get hat-tricks with batters slogging three into the deep. This was a properly earned hat-trick.

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) October 18, 2022

The hat-trick helped bring UAE back in the game and suddenly the prospect of crossing 160, which looked assured at one point, appeared an uphill task. Meiyappan would come back for another over, conceding two off his last to sign off with superb, potentially match-winning figures of 3/19.

Meiyappan is the fifth bowler to collect a hat-trick in the history of the competition. Former Australia speedster Brett Lee was the first to achieve the feat, doing so against Bangladesh in the inaugural edition in South Africa.

Cricketers with a hat-trick in the Men’s T20 World Cup:

Brett Lee 🇦🇺
Curtis Campher ☘️
Wanindu Hasaranga 🇱🇰
Kagiso Rabada 🇿🇦
KARTHIK MEIYAPPAN 🇦🇪#T20WorldCup

— Nic Savage (@nic_savage1) October 18, 2022

It would take a while before the T20 World Cup would see another hat-trick, 14 years to be precise. As many as three bowlers would collect hat-tricks in the 2021 edition in UAE — Ireland’s Curtis Campher, Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga and South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada.

Opener Pathum Nissanka, meanwhile, would stage a mini-recovery for the Sri Lankans after the hat-trick, adding valuable runs in the slog overs before getting dismissed for 74 in the final over as Sri Lanka finished on 152/8.

Shanaka and Co, who won the 2014 edition of the tournament in Bangladesh, face a must-win situation against UAE after their defeat at the hands of Namibia earlier.

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