Hat tricks to win matches in ODI cricket, hat tricks from final 3 balls of a match, Wasim Akram, Saqlain Mushtaq, Mohammad Sami, Charl Langeveldt, Kemar Roach, Shehan Madushanka, Mohammed Shami

What a couple of days of cricket we have had! There was a real danger that this World Cup would fizzle out at least until we got to the semi-final stages as a group of 4 began to pull away from the chasing pack. However, Sri Lanka's shock win against England seems to have ignited some fighting spirit and belief within the lower-ranked teams and yesterday we were treated to another couple of thrilling encounters as Afghanistan pushed India very close while West Indies almost came back from the dead to beat New Zealand.

Afghanistan were ultimately denied in the last over by Mohammed Shami whose hat trick ended a great effort by the Afghan team to chase down India's 224. It was an incredible feat by Shami but it got me wondering, how many times had a bowler taken a hattrick to win an ODI? I searched on Google and found lots of lists of bowlers who had achieved hat tricks but nothing that was so specific to this particular achievement, so I decided to write the list myself, here it goes...............

Wasim Akram v Australia 1990

The great Pakistan left-armer became the first man to achieve the feat against Australia in 1990 when he bowled Merv Hughes, Carl Rackeman and Terry Alderman with consecutive deliveries. To date Akram's achievement is also the only example of a player having achieved a hat trick to win an ODI final - this was the final of the Asia Cup. It capped a spectacular performance by the Pakistan all-rounder who also hit a more than useful 49 not out off just 35 deliveries at the end of his side's innings. With Pakistan winning the game by just 36 runs it was no surprise that Wasim was named Man of the Match

Saqlain Mushtaq v Zimbabwe 1999

It took the best part of a decade for an ODI to be won again with a hat trick but when it did come it was again to another Pakistan bowler. However, the off-spin of Saqlain remains the only example of a hat trick to win a match by a slow bowler as well as the first such scenario having been achieved in a World Cup. Pakistan had hit a total of 271 from their allotted overs and Zimbabwe had no chance of getting anywhere near their target when Saqlain decided to finish proceedings quickly by having Olonga and Huckle stumped before Pommie Mbangwa was out LBW. Pakistan won the game by a whopping 148runs

Mohammad Sami v West Indies 2002

They like a hat trick in Pakistan and Mohammad Sami (not to be mistaken for the similarly named Indian fast bowler later in this list) made it a hat trick of hat tricks to win ODIs for Pakistani bowlers when he tore through the West Indies lower order. In what had been a tight run-chase, Pakistan finished the stronger (WI lost their last 5 wickets in just 8 deliveries) with Sami starting by dismissing Ridley Jacobs to a rather dubious looking LBW decision. However, there could be no doubt about the next 2 as Sami castled numbers 10 & 11 Collymore and Cuffy to seal a 51 run victory.

Charl Langeveldt v West Indies 2005

If you thought yesterday's match between India and Afghanistan was a thrilling finish then check out this effort from 2005! The West Indies needed just 4 from the last over with 3 wickets in hand. That requirement was cut to just 3 from 5 balls when Ian Bradshaw took a single off the first ball to bring by far the most qualified batsmen that the Windies had left in DJ Bravo onto strike. Rather than deciding to see his side home though he took a quick single to put Bradshaw back on strike, it proved to be the wrong decision as Bravo would have to watch from the non-striker's end as the tail capitulated under the pressure.

Kemar Roach v Netherlands 2011

Kemar Roach helped the West Indies finish on the right side of a match-winning hat trick with his effort against the Netherlands in the 2011 World Cup. In a one-sided affair, Roach polished off the Dutch tail to take match figures of 6-27 as the West Indies sealed victory by 215 runs.

Shehan Madushanka v Bangladesh 2018

Prior to yesterday, the last time a player had taken a hat trick to win an ODI game was Shehan Madushanka of Sri Lanka. This example is interesting for several reasons. Firstly, it is the only occasion that a player has taken a hat trick to win an ODI without those 3 wickets being consecutive deliveries as Madushanka dismissed Mortaza and Hossein with the last 2 balls of the 40th over before returning to claim the wicket of Mahmudullah with the first ball of the 42nd over. What is even more staggering is that those 3 scalps were during his debut match for Sri Lanka making him the 4th player to have taken a hat trick on debut. Let's hope he hasn't peaked too soon

Mohammed Shami v Afghanistan 2019

And so to the latest player to achieve the feat in another nail-biting encounter. Playing in his first match of the tournament and having been hit for 4 from his first delivery it was a great achievement for Shami and will have brought great relief and belief that this could be India's year in the World Cup.

To put the achievement into context, India v Afghanistan was the 4169th ODI to have been played. It was the 47th hat trick to have been taken meaning we only see a hat trick on average once every 88 games and just the 7th time a bowler has sealed victory with a hat trick an occurrence that happens on average about once every 600 matches.