Four in a row for Curtis helped Ireland secure first win

Curtis Campher, the Ireland pace bowler, joined Lasith Malinga and Rashid Khan as the only men with the remarkable feat of taking four wickets in as many balls in T20Is.

Campher’s heroics came in the 10th over of the Netherlands’ innings against Ireland in their opening match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 in Abu Dhabi.

He was bowling his second over for the day, having gone for 12 runs first up.

Varying his length through the over and angling the ball in, he sent back Colin Ackermann, Ryan ten Doeschate, and Scott Edwards to take a hat-trick, before adding Roelof van der Merwe to his victims.

Ackermann was out caught behind on review, having feathered an attempted pull off a shortish ball that seemed to be going down leg. Ten Doeschate was out for a duck, trapped in front by a full and straight one. Edwards too fell lbw as DRS tracked the ball hitting the leg stump. For the final wicket, van der Merwe dragged a wider delivery onto his stumps and the Irish celebrations were in full force. 

Campher’s is the first such effort in the Men’s T20 World Cup. Malinga previously managed the feat in the 2007 Men’s Cricket World Cup, against South Africa. Rashid’s four wickets came across two overs.

Campher is the second man after Brett Lee in 2007 to take a hat-trick in men’s T20 World Cups.

Four wickets by Campher and three wickets by Mark Adair helped Ireland to restrict the Netherlands for only 106 in 20 overs after the Dutch captain Pieter Seelaar won the toss and elected to bat first.

Ryan ten Doeschate, who will bid farewell to international cricket after this World Cup started his last campaign with a duck.

Only Max O’Dowd managed to score 51 runs while six of his teammates failed to score a single run.

Ireland chased down the target comfortably as they scored 107-3 in 15.1 overs.

Gareth Delany scored 44 runs; Paul Stirling scored 30 runs.

Campher became the player of the match for his rare heroics.