WATCH: Australia’s Nathan Ellis becomes the first player to claim hat-trick on T20I debut
Australian fast bowler Nathan Ellis etched himself in the record books this Friday (August 6), becoming the first male cricketer to earn a hat-trick on his T20I debut. Playing the third game of the five-match T20I series versus Bangladesh, Ellis bagged a perfect trio to make a stellar beginning to his international career.
After three nervy wicket-less overs, the tide turned for the 26-year-old right-arm quick in his fourth where bowling at the death he dismissed Bangladesh skipper Mahmudullah as well as tailenders Mustafizur Rahman and Mehedi Hasan in his hat-trick.
Nathan Ellis creates history with hat-trick on T20I debut.
Nathan Ellis only the third man to take a T20I hat-trick for Australia
Nathan Ellis first got Mahmudullah out bowled with a full-pitched delivery that the well-set right-hander missed as he looked to create room in an effort to open up the off-side. Mahmudullah had just crossed his half-century (52 off 53 balls) but still couldn’t put bat to ball off the delivery from Ellis.
The pacer then got Mahmudullah out mistiming an attempted slog to the deep mid-wicket fieldsman. As the left-hander anticipated another full ball at express pace, the bowler smartly reduced the speed on the ball by delivering an off-cutter that gripped a touch on the surface and was grabbed comfortably by Mitchell Marsh.
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On the verge of a hat-trick, Ellis backed his slower ball again, as he got Hasan out caught at the square-leg region off a mistimed pull shot. Once again, the ball gripped on the track in Dhaka and enforced a miscued stroke that went comfortably into the hands of Ashton Agar.
The moment the catch was taken, the jubilant Nathan Ellis was immediately surrounded by stand-in captain Matthew Wade and the rest of the Australian team, who congratulated the youngster for what will now be a life-long cherished memory for him.
Ellis is now the third men’s cricketer to take a T20I hat-trick for Australia after Brett Lee and Ashton Agar.