Hat-trick Vaas devastates pathetic Bangla, 124 all out
Friday, February 14 2003 16:57 Hrs (IST)

Pietermaritzburg (South Africa): Sri Lanka's Chaminda Vaas created a World Cup sensation on Friday when he grabbed an unprecedented hat-trick with the first three deliveries of the match against Bangladesh here.

The 29-year-old left-arm seamer also claimed a wicket off the fifth legal delivery to leave Bangladesh struggling at five for four after the first over. Vaas, who already has One-day cricket's best figures of eight for 19, finished with six for 25 as Bangladesh were shot out for 124 in the 32nd over.

Muthiah Muralitharan chipped in with three for 25 to leave Bangladesh, a full Test playing nation, facing their 28th consecutive One-day defeat.

Bangladesh lost its opening match to Canada on Tuesday, but few expected them to cave in again without a fight after being sent to bat.

Vaas bowled Hannan Sarkar with the first ball, took a return catch off Mohammad Ashraful with the second and had Ehsanul Haque caught in the slips by Mahela Jayawardene with the third.

New batsman Sanwar Hossain drove the fourth ball to the boundary, the fifth was a wide, before Hossain was trapped leg before next ball.

It was only the third hat-trick at the World Cup, but the first time in One-day cricket history that it came off the first three balls of the match.

India's Chetan Sharma claimed the first triple against New Zealand at Nagpur in 1987, while Pakistan's Saqlain Mushtaq took the second against Zimbabwe at the Oval in 1999.

"I didn't know about the record. I'm not really interested in records. As long as I am fit and bowling well, that's the important thing," Vaas said later.

"The ball was swinging from the very start and to get the wicket with the first ball made me very happy.

"On the hat-trick ball, I wasn't really feeling anything. I just wanted to make sure I put the ball in the right place."

Alok Kapali's 32 and tailender Mashrafe Mortaza's defiant 28 enabled Bangladesh to surpass the 100-run mark after seven batsmen failed to get into double figures.

Copyright AFP 2001

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