With his match-winning hat-trick in the first ODI against Pakistan at Abu Dhabi, left-arm paceman Trent Boult became only the third bowler from New Zealand (after Danny Morrison and Shane Bond) and the 41st overall to achieve the rather uncommon feat. Boult’s hat-trick was the 46th such instance in ODI history, meaning that there has been a hat-trick roughly every 88 ODIs. Here is a look at a few interesting facts and figures surrounding hat-tricks in ODI cricket.    

The first ODI hat-trick

It took 158 matches before ODI cricket witnessed its first hat-trick. The man who recorded it was Pakistani fast bowler Jalal-ud-Din, against Australia at the Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad (Sindh) in 1982-83. In what was the second of his eight ODI appearances, Jalal dismissed Rodney Marsh (bowled), Bruce Yardley (caught behind by Wasim Bari) and Geoff Lawson (bowled) in successive deliveries, giving himself figures of 4/32. Pakistan secured a comfortable 59-run win.

Country-wise breakdown

Sri Lanka (nine hat-tricks by six bowlers) and Pakistan (eight by six bowlers) together account for more than one-third of all ODI hat-tricks taken till date. Next on the list is Australia (six), followed by Bangladesh (five). England and South Africa have provided four hat-tricks each, India and New Zealand three each, and the West Indies and Zimbabwe two each. Interestingly, Pakistani bowlers took eight of the first 15 ODI hat-tricks, but have not taken any of the last 31.  

Bowlers with more than one hat-trick

Sri Lankan speedster Lasith Malinga sits at the top with three hat-tricks, more than any other bowler in ODI history. Malinga’s first hat-trick came against South Africa at Providence in the 2007 World Cup, when he famously took four wickets in as many balls. His next two hat-tricks were taken within the space of six months at the same venue (the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo) – against Kenya in the 2011 World Cup, and against Australia later in the same year.

Pakistan’s Wasim Akram took both his hat-tricks at Sharjah in 1989-90, against the West Indies and Australia respectively. His compatriot, off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq, took his first hat-trick against Zimbabwe at Peshawar in 1996-97, and repeated the dose to the same opponents at The Oval in the 1999 World Cup. Chaminda Vaas of Sri Lanka first did the ‘trick’ against Zimbabwe at Colombo in 2001-02, and then against Bangladesh at Pietermaritzburg in the 2003 World Cup.  

Four wickets in four balls

While a hat-trick by itself is a rare occurrence, a sequence of four wickets in four balls is at another level altogether. Unsurprisingly, it has been recorded only once not just in ODIs, but in all international cricket. In a Super Eight game of the 2007 World Cup at Providence, South Africa, chasing 210 to win, were placed at 206/5 after 44.4 overs, when Lasith Malinga bowled Shaun Pollock. Off the very next ball, Andrew Hall was caught in the covers by Upul Tharanga.  

Malinga returned to bowl the 47th over, the score now reading 207/7. The slinger completed his hat-trick by having the well-set Jacques Kallis caught behind by Kumar Sangakkara for 86. But he was not done yet, and duly collected an astounding four-in-four by castling new man Makhaya Ntini. The final wicket proved elusive though, as South Africa survived a massive scare to sneak home by one wicket. Malinga ended with 4/54 and his place in the history books etched forever.  

Hat-trick with the first three balls of an ODI

Before Malinga’s sensational burst, another Sri Lankan fast bowler had a unique World Cup moment to cherish. In a group fixture of the 2003 edition at Pietermaritzburg, Chaminda Vaas created history by becoming the first (and till date, only) bowler to take three wickets off the first three balls of an ODI. The left-armer removed Hannan Sarkar, Mohammad Ashraful and Ehsanul Haque en route to figures of 6/25, starring in Sri Lanka’s thumping ten-wicket victory.

Most hat-tricks at a single venue

The Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka has seen five ODI hat-tricks, the most at a single venue. Bangladesh’s Abdur Razzak (against Zimbabwe in 2010-11), Rubel Hossain (against New Zealand in 2013-14) and Taijul Islam (against Zimbabwe in 2014-15), South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada (against Bangladesh in 2015) and Sri Lanka’s Shehan Madushanka (against Bangladesh in 2017-18) are the five bowlers who have achieved the feat at this venue.

Hat-tricks on debut

There have been four instances of a bowler recording a hat-trick on his ODI debut. The first to do so was Bangladeshi left-arm spinner Taijul Islam, against Zimbabwe at Mirpur in 2014-15, followed by South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada at the same venue against the hosts in 2015. In 2017, Sri Lankan leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga achieved the distinction against Zimbabwe at Galle, while his compatriot Shehan Madushanka did the same against Bangladesh at Mirpur in 2017-18.

Hat-tricks by spinners – a rarity

The list of ODI hat-tricks is dominated by pace bowlers, who have provided for 37 of the 46 instances so far, thereby making a hat-trick by a spinner an extremely rare occurrence.

Following is the complete list of ODI hat-tricks by spin bowlers:

Saqlain Mushtaq (Pakistan) v Zimbabwe, Peshawar, 1996-97
Saqlain Mushtaq (Pakistan) v Zimbabwe, The Oval, 1999
Abdur Razzak (Bangladesh) v Zimbabwe, Mirpur, 2010-11
Prosper Utseya (Zimbabwe) v South Africa, Harare, 2014
Taijul Islam (Bangladesh) v Zimbabwe, Mirpur 2014-15
Jean-Paul Duminy (South Africa) v Sri Lanka, Sydney, 2014-15
Wanindu Hasaranga (Sri Lanka) v Zimbabwe, Galle, 2017
Kuldeep Yadav (India) v Australia, Kolkata, 2017-18
Imran Tahir (South Africa) v Zimbabwe, Bloemfontein, 2018-19

World Cup hat-tricks

The World Cup has featured nine hat-tricks by eight bowlers so far, with the first instance coming at Nagpur in the 1987 edition, when Indian pacer Chetan Sharma dismissed New Zealand’s Ken Rutherford, Ian Smith and Ewen Chatfield in succession – all of them bowled.

Following is the complete list of World Cup hat-tricks:

Chetan Sharma (India) v New Zealand, Nagpur, 1987-88
Saqlain Mushtaq (Pakistan) v Zimbabwe, The Oval, 1999
Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka) v Bangladesh, Pietermaritzburg, 2002-03
Brett Lee (Australia) v Kenya, Durban, 2002-03
Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka) v South Africa, Providence, 2006-07
Kemar Roach (West Indies) v Netherlands, Delhi, 2010-11
Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka) v Kenya, Colombo, 2010-11
Steven Finn (England) v Australia, Melbourne, 2014-15
Jean-Paul Duminy (South Africa) v Sri Lanka, Sydney, 2014-15

Hat-trick takers as well as hat-trick victims

The following players have not only taken an ODI hat-trick, but have also been one of the victims in an ODI hat-trick at least once: Kapil Dev (India), Mohammad Sami (Pakistan), Brett Lee (Australia), Thisara Perera (Sri Lanka), Prosper Utseya (Zimbabwe) and Rubel Hossain (Bangladesh).

Three in three, but not a hat-trick

Zahoor Khan of the United Arab Emirates came very close to becoming the first Associate bowler to take an ODI hat-trick, against Ireland at Dubai in 2016-17. The scorecard will show that the medium-fast bowler dismissed Gary Wilson, William Porterfield and Andy McBrine off the third, fourth and fifth balls of his fifth over (46th of the innings), but since the sequence was broken by a wide bowled between the second and third wickets, he missed out on the hat-trick.