It was an unusual day for Rashid Khan on the field. He was captaining the side in the absence of Rashid Khan. The match was poised for a close finish. Kolkata Knight Riders needed 50 runs from 4 overs with the power hitter Andre Russell still at the crease.
Rashid Khan put his hand up to bowl the crucial over of the match. He had an unlike-Rashid spell in his first 3 overs. The Afghan wizard was smashed for 35 runs in his 3 overs. But the best in the world know when to step up for the team. He turned the game on its head in the 17th over of the match.
The hattrick
Rashid Khan bowled a googly on the leg stump to Russell which the West Indian batter tried to hoick it out of the ground. He got an under-edge and was caught by KS Bharat who came in as a stand-in wicketkeeper for Saha. Gujarat immediately reviewed and the big man was back in the pavilion.
Sunil Narine knows only one way to bat. The situation also demanded him to bat aggressively. Narine heaved the googly across the line and was caught at deep midwicket on his first ball. The Afghan spread his arms and was delighted with the wicket.
The man of the match from KKR’s last match, Shardul Thakur came in to face the hattrick ball. Poor Thakur failed to read the googly of Rashid Khan and was pinned at the crease. Even before the umpire could raise the finger, Rashid Khan was off in a celebratory run celebrating his hattrick. Even though Shardul took the review in desperation more than anything else saw 3 reds on the giant screen and had to walk off the field.
Eventually, Rashid just gave 2 runs in the over and had completely turned the match in favor of the Titans. The man from Afghanistan took his fourth career hat trick. With this hattrick, Rashid Khan has now hattricks in CPL, BBL, T20Is, and the Indian Premier League. He now holds the record for the most hattricks in cricket.
Rashid Khan is just 24-years old and has achieved so much in his T20 career. He has an economy under 7 (6.39) in T20s and has an average of 18.05. It will be scary for other bowlers to see what he achieves till the end of his career.
However, the hattrick came in a losing cause, as Rinku Singh produced a performance of a lifetime to win the match for KKR from the dead. He smashed 5 sixes off 5 consecutive deliveries when KKR needed 28 runs from 4 balls.
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