New Delhi: Thisara Perera on Friday became only the fourth bowler to have taken a hat-trick in the Twenty20 International.
In the second T20I match at Ranchi, the Sri Lankan pace bowler took the wickets of Hardik Pandya, Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh of successive deliveries to claim the feat.
After that brilliant 19th over, the 26-year-old all-rounder ended with a figure of 3-0-33-3. Thanks to his exploits, Lankans somehow managed to restrict the innings under the 200-run mark.
Aussie great Brett Lee became the first bowler to pick a hat-trick in T20I, against Bangladesh in 2007 at Cape Town during their ICC World Twenty Group F match.
Shakib Al Hasan, Mashrafe Mortaza and Alok Kapali were his victims.
New Zealand pair Jacob Oram and Tim Southee were other bowlers to have achieved the feat.
Oram took the wickets of Angelo Mathews, Malinga Bandara and Nuwan Kulasekara in Colombo in 2009, while his Southee dismissed Younis Khan, Mohammad Hafeez and Umar Akmal in Auckland in 2010.
