T20 World Cup 2024: Australia's Pat Cummins achieved an extraordinary milestone by taking a hat-trick for the second time in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024. After securing a hat-trick in Australia's Super 8 match against Bangladesh on Thursday, Cummins repeated this feat in Australia's Super 8 match against Afghanistan on Sunday, June 23. He dismissed Rashid Khan, Karim Janat, and Gulbadin Naib in three consecutive deliveries, becoming the first bowler ever to achieve two hat-tricks in back-to-back T20 World Cup matches.
In the previous game against Bangladesh, Cummins claimed his first hat-trick in the T20 format. Just two days later, he became the first player to record consecutive hat-tricks in T20I history. Reflecting on his outstanding performance against Afghanistan, the ODI World Cup winner first took the wicket of Rashid Khan with the last delivery of the 18th over. He then dismissed Karim Janat and Gulbadin Naib with the first two deliveries of the 20th over.
Despite Cummins' heroics, Afghanistan had a strong start, with Rahmanullah Gurbaz scoring 60 and Ibrahim Zadran adding 51, contributing to a 118-run partnership. However, Mitchell Marsh and his teammates made a comeback, taking quick wickets to restrict Afghanistan to 148/6 in 20 overs. The target proved challenging for Australia, and they lost the game by 21 runs, marking Afghanistan's first-ever victory against Australia.
Cummins now joins an elite group of bowlers who have taken two hat-tricks in T20Is, including Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka), Tim Southee (New Zealand), Mark Pavlovic (Serbia), and Waseem Abbas (Malta). However, he stands alone as the only bowler to achieve two consecutive hat-tricks in T20 Internationals.
Here is the list of hat-tricks in ICC Men's T20 World Cups:
- Pat Cummins: 2024 vs Afghanistan, 2024 vs Bangladesh
- Josh Little (Ireland): 2022 vs New Zealand
- Karthik Meiyappan (UAE): 2022 vs Sri Lanka
- Kagiso Rabada (South Africa): 2021 vs England
- Wanindu Hasaranga (Sri Lanka): 2021 vs South Africa
- Curtis Campher (Ireland): 2021 vs Netherlands
- Brett Lee (Australia): 2007 vs Bangladesh
Cummins' remarkable achievement has added a new chapter to T20 World Cup history, demonstrating his exceptional skill and consistency on the international stage.
Afghanistan Stuns Australia
The Afghanistan cricket team made history in the T20 World Cup 2024 by defeating former champions Australia by 21 runs in a Super 8 match on Saturday. Batting first, Afghanistan scored 148/6 and then bowled out Australia for just 127 in 19.2 overs. Glenn Maxwell seemed poised to lead Australia to victory with his 59 off 41 balls, but Gulbadin Naib had other plans. Brought into the attack after the halfway mark, Naib faced the tough task of stopping the Australian chase led by Maxwell and Stoinis. He made an impact in his first over by removing Stoinis, then dismissed Tim David in his next over. An outstanding catch by Noor Ahmad in Naib's third over sent Maxwell back to the pavilion, giving Naib his third wicket. He finished his spell impressively by clean bowling Pat Cummins for his fourth wicket.
