Who Took the First Hat-Trick in Cricket?

In the game of cricket, a hat-trick is one of the greatest accomplishments for a bowler. In simple words, a hat-trick is when a bowler takes three wickets in three consecutive deliveries. While most of you may have already known this, what you may have not known is how the term originated. It is widely believed that the term hat-trick originated in 1858 when English bowler H.H. Stephenson sent back three batsmen in three successive balls. The right-arm fast roundarm bowler achieved the feat while playing for the All-England Eleven against the twenty-two of Hallam in Sheffield. To celebrate this incredible feat, Stephenson’s club collected money and bought him a hat, thus giving birth to the term "hat-trick." The term was later adopted by various other sports too, including football, hockey and rugby. 

Unlike a maiden over or a fifer, a hat-trick is not something that is commonly seen in cricket matches, because it is a huge task to pick three wickets off three back-to-back deliveries. Recording a hat-trick not only requires exceptional skill but sometimes luck too. You can bowl a great delivery and still get unlucky if the fielder drops or misses a simple catch. Not just the bowler’s calibre, but other factors like pitch conditions and field placements also play crucial roles in achieving a hat-trick. Considering that a bowler gets to bowl only six deliveries in an over, sending back three batters in a row is an extraordinary feat, thus making hat-tricks among cricket's most iconic moments. 

The First Hat-Trick in Test Cricket

The first-ever hat-trick in Test cricket was a historic moment in the sport. History was written by Australian fast bowler Fred Spofforth on January 2 in 1879 at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia. Playing against England, Spofforth, one of the most dangerous bowlers of his time, took three wickets off three consecutive deliveries. This was also only the third Test match ever to take place. 

Batting first, England, led by Lord Harris, scored just 113, thanks to Spofforth who took six wickets for 48 runs, recording a hat-trick in the process. His hat-trick began with the wicket of Vernon Royle (bowled), followed by Francis Mackinnon (bowled) and Tom Emmett (Leg Before Wicket).

In reply, Australia put up 256 runs. England's second innings was again disappointing, as they managed only 160 runs with Spofforth being deadly once again, taking seven wickets for 62 runs. The hosts needed just 18 runs to win, which they chased down easily without losing a wicket. 

Nicknamed "The Demon Bowler," Spofforth was Australia’s first fearsome fast bowler. He delivered several match-winning spells in his professional cricket career, including a haul of 94 Test wickets in 18 matches. Unfortunately, Australia lost one of their best bowlers when Spofforth, in 1886, moved to England to pursue his interest in business. 

The First Hat-Trick in ODI Cricket

In ODI cricket, the first-ever hat-trick was recorded by Pakistan's right-arm fast-medium pacer Jalal-ud-din, who played six Test matches and eight ODIs from 1982 to 1985. Jalal-ud-din took the hat-trick while playing against Australia at the Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad on 20 September 1982.

This was the first of the three-match ODI series, which was preceded by a three-match Test series. Both the series were won by the hosts. In the first ODI in Hyderabad, the Zaheer Abbas-led Pakistan posted a target of 230 for the visitors. But the Kim Hughes-led Australian team could manage only 170 in reply as Jalal-ud-din wreaked havoc with the ball, finishing with a spell of four for 32. In the process, he became the first cricketer to take a hat-trick in the 50-over format. He first bowled Rod Marsh, then caught Bruce Yardley behind, before eventually rattling Geoff Lawson's stumps. This hat-trick changed the course of the game, reducing Australia from 127 for 6 to 127 for 9. But the Player of the Match award went to Mohsin Khan, who scored a century.

The First Hat-Trick in T20I Cricket

The first hat-trick in the shortest format of the sport was taken by one of the greatest pace bowlers of all time, Brett Lee. He achieved this historic feat in the inaugural 2007 T20 World Cup, against Bangladesh in Newlands, South Africa. 

Australia, led by Ricky Ponting, won by nine wickets, thanks to Lee's spell of three for 27. Bangladesh, batting first, could muster only 123 against a strong Australian bowling lineup. Lee's hat-trick came in the 17th over of the game when he sent back Shakib-Al-Hasan, Mashrafe Mortaza and Alok Kapali. The first wicket was caught behind, second was clean bowled and third was leg-before. This was Lee's second hat-trick in international cricket - he had previously taken one in ODI cricket in the 2003 World Cup against Kenya. 

His hat-trick helped restrict Bangladesh to 123 for 8, which Australia comfortably chased down in 13.5 overs. 

An extremely fast bowler who could reach 160kph, Lee retired from all international cricket in 2012 after a fulfilling career in which he achieved several landmarks. He played 76 Tests, 221 ODIs and 25 T20Is in his career of over 13 years.

Other Notable Hat-Trick Records

To date, a total of 51 hat-tricks have been taken in ODIs, the most recent of which came in January 2025 when Sri Lanka's Maheesh Theekshana took a hat-trick against New Zealand in Hamilton. 

Test cricket has seen a total of 47 hat-tricks. In January 2025, Noman Ali of Pakistan became the 47th bowler to take a hat-trick in the longest format. 

In T20I cricket, the hat-trick has been recorded 66 times at the time of writing this article. Most recently, New Zealand's Lockie Ferguson took a hat-trick against Sri Lanka in Dambulla. 

Naseem Shah is the youngest male cricketer to take a Test hat-trick. He was 16 years and 359 days old when, in February 2020, he took a Test hat-trick against Bangladesh at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. On the other end of the spectrum, Sri Lanka's Rangana Herath is the oldest player to take a hat-trick in Test cricket. He was 38 years and 139 days old when he achieved the feat in 2016. 

Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka) holds the record for most hat-tricks in international cricket with five of them. Three of Malinga’s hat-tricks came in ODIs - against South Africa (March 2007), Kenya (March 2011), and Australia (August 2011). The other two came in T20Is - one against Bangladesh (April 2017) and another one against New Zealand (2019).

Wasim Akram (Pakistan) has the second-most hat-tricks in international cricket (4). Akram's came in ODIs against West Indies (1989) and Pakistan (1990) in Sharjah, and in Tests against Sri Lanka in consecutive Asian Test Championship matches (1999) in Lahore and Dhaka. Besides these two bowlers, there are several others who have taken two hat-tricks in international cricket.

Four players have taken a hat-trick on their ODI debuts: Bangladesh's Taijul Islam (2014), South Africa's Kagiso Rabada (2015), Sri Lanka's Wanindu Hasaranga (2017), and Sri Lanka's Shehan Madushanka (2018). Three players have taken a hat-trick on their Test debuts: England's Maurice Allom (1930), New Zealand's Peter Petherick (1976), and Australia's Damien Fleming (1994). 

In T20Is, the only cricketer to have taken a hat-trick on debut is Australia's Nathan Ellis in 2021. He picked up three wickets off the last three balls of Bangladesh's innings to record a hat-trick. 

Talking about the World Cups, a total of 11 hat-tricks have been taken in the ODI World Cups, while nine hat-tricks have been seen in the T20 World Cups. Brett Lee, Lasith Malinga and Pat Cummins have taken two hat-tricks each in World Cups.