UAE’s Karthik Meiyappan takes first hattrick of T20 World Cup 2022

Karthik Meiyappan made history against Sri Lanka when he became the first player to claim a hattrick for UAE in T20Is. It was also the first hattrick of the tournament.

Sri Lanka were cruising along when Meiyappan came into the bowl the 15th over, with Pathum Nissanka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa at the crease. The over turned the game on its head as it triggered a middle-order collapse, putting the pressure back on Sri Lanka.

Bhanuka Rajapaksa's attempt to go inside-out saw him hole out in the deep to Kashif Daud. Charith Asalanka departed for a golden duck as he nicked the ball to Vriitya Aravind.

Facing the hattrick ball, Dasun Shanaka had no answer to the wonderful googly that found the gap between bat and pad and rattled his stumps as Meiyappan wheeled off in celebration. 

The legspinner finished with three wickets for 19 runs off four overs.

Meiyappan joins Brett Lee (2007), Curtis Campher (2021), Wanindu Hasaranga (2021), and Kagiso Rabada (2021) as only the fifth bowler to bag a hattrick at the T20 World Cup.

In the history of the men's World Cup, Meiyappan is the first associate team player to score a hat trick against a Test team (T20Is or ODIs).

On either side of the hattrick, it was Sri Lanka who dominated the game for the most part. The opening partnership worth 42 runs between Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis got the Asia Cup champions off to a great start. Despite the wicket of Mendis in the fifth over, Shanaka's men were the happier side at the end of the Powerplay with over 50 runs. 

This was followed by a 50-run stand between Dhananjaya de Silva and Nissanka. The all-rounder was the aggressor between the two, smashing a 21-ball 33 consisting of three fours and a six before a run-out brought his innings to a premature end.

Nissanka, who got to his fifty in the same over as the hattrick, got a move on and helped Sri Lanka post a competitive total. A blinder from Basil Hameed brought an end to his innings where he scored almost half of Sri Lanka's team total.

Sri Lanka and UAE are in the hunt for their first win of the tournament. Both the team suffered defeats in their respective first games – Namibia pulled off an upset win in the first game of the tournament against the Asia Cup Champions while Netherlands clinched a last-over thriller against UAE.

It's not just about the two points for the Islanders as they have a deficit in the net run rate that they need to overcome against the UAE.

Sri Lanka will now be looking to restrict UAE to a small total to make a jump in the points column as well as the net run rate.