The Historic Hat-trick that Happened Today ❤️
11th June 1999
Pakistan vs Zimbabwe
ICC World Cup Match
#memoriesfromdiaries 😊
Well, this was a particularly remarkable day as regards the Cricket World Cup!
For two reasons at that! 😊
First and foremost, spectators were in for a delightful festive feast, witnessing the second ever hat-trick in Cricket World Cup!
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| 11th June 1999, from my personal diaries |
And this hat-trick had happened after a long wait of twelve years!
The honour of taking the first ever hat-trick in World Cup cricket goes to India’s Chetan Sharma, in the fourth edition of the ICC World Cup in the year 1987, against the Kiwis in Nagpur.
Coming back to this match today -
What a treat it was, from Pakistan off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq, who got Henry Olonga in the first ball, Huckle in the next ball, before finally pouncing on Pommie for the prized third wicket, which was the winning wicket as well! 😊
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| That hat-trick moment! Source: crickcountydotcom |
Pakistan won convincingly, by 148 runs against Zimbabwe!
[For the record, the third hat-trick in World Cup Cricket, came only four years later, from Chaminda Vaas, Sri Lanka’s most successful pace bowler, in the year 2003 against Bangladesh!]
The second reason for the interest in this particular match is that, if Pakistan had lost out on this match, they’d have been out of the World Cup!
But Saeed Anwar – considered one of the best opening batsmen from Pakistan, made sure he took his team to the winning side, with 103 off 144 balls.
Who can forget that mammoth score of 194, that he piled up against India at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai in 1997? Anwar's score of 194, still remains the highest by a Pakistan batsman ever!
[On an aside, this record score was broken only in the year 2014 by Rohit Sharma (India) against Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens, Kolkatta. He had amassed a massive 264 runs, which remains the highest individual score in ODI till date!]
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