In the thrilling Sylhet T20I of Bangladesh vs Afghanistan, the 24-year-old Afghanistan right-arm pacer Karim Janat became the second Afghan bowler to record a T20I hat-trick.
It was the opening game of the two-match T20I series between Bangladesh and Afghanistan. After the hosts sent Afghanistan to bat first, the visitors scored 154/7 (20 overs), majorly thanks to Mohammad Nabi (54 not out off 40 balls) and lower middle-order batters Najibullah Zadran (23 runs off 23 balls) and Azmatullah Omarzai (33 runs off 18 balls).
Among the Bangladesh bowler, skipper Shakib Al Hasan managed to claim more than one wicket (4-0-27-2).
In reply, Bangladesh lost their top-order batters early, but the middle-order batters Towhid Hridoy and Shamim Hossain controlled the game with a solid 73-run partnership for the fifth wicket. After Shamim was out for 33 runs off 25 balls, Hridoy continued his guidance to the win for the hosts.
However, Karim Janat brought a final over drama that suddenly scared the home fans before securing a win.
Final Over Drama: Karim Janat hat-trick
In the final over of the match, Bangladesh were six runs away from the victory. Mehidy Hasan Miraz hit a four to Janat on the first ball of that over as the hosts were inches away from victory.
However, in the next three deliveries, Janat dismissed Miraz (8), Taskin Ahmed (0) and Nasum Ahmed (0) to claim a T20I hat-trick.
On the fifth ball of that final over, Shoriful Islam disheartened the Afghan fighters with a four as Bangladesh won the match by two wickets with one ball to spare. Hridoy remained not out on 47 runs in 32 balls.
Rashid Khan was the first Afghanistan bowler to record a T20I hat-trick with a historic spell
Karim Janat became the second Afghanistan bowler to record a T20I hat-trick. The leg-spinner Rashid Khan was the first Afghan bowler to claim a T20I hat-trick, which he recorded in 2019 against Ireland at Dehradun. In that game (24 February 2019), Rashid created history by becoming the first bowler in T20I history to claim four wickets in four successive deliveries.
Rashid created that history after dismissing the Irish batters Kevin O'Brien, George Dockrell, Shane Getkate and Simi Singh.
