England fast bowler Gus Atkinson joined the aforementioned Jasprit Bumrah of India into an elite list on Saturday (December 7). Making his Test appearance against the West Indies in July 2024 at Lord’s, the 26-year-old Atkinson registered a hat trick in the second Test that is currently going on against New Zealand. The right-arm medium pacer dismissed Nathan Smith (14), Matt Henry (0), and Tim Southee (0) in three back-to-back deliveries to register a memorable hat-trick. While Smith was clean-bowled by Atkinson, Ben Duckett took a catch for Henry, and Southee was trapped in front of the wickets by the English seamer, who now has 47 wickets in 18 innings of 10 Tests played so far.
Atkinson joined Bumrah in an elite list because this was his first-ever hat trick in international cricket. The English seamer became the fourth bowler in history in the World Test Championship to have a hat trick. Bumrah was the first bowler to dismiss three batters in three balls. He achieved the feat during the Test match against West Indies at Kingston, from August 30 to September 2, in 2019.
In that encounter, Bumrah claimed the wickets of Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks, and Roston Chase on the second, third, and fourth balls of the ninth over during the first innings of West Indies.
Pakistani pacer Naseem Shah also registers a hat trick in WTC. The 21-year-old speedster achieved the dismissals of Najmul Hossain Shanto, Taijul Islam, and Mahmudullah off three successive balls in a Test played by Pakistan versus Bangladesh from February 7 to 10, 2020 at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
Keshav Maharaj took the wickets of three West Indies batters during their WTC matchup against South Africa, played from June 18 to 21 in 2021 in Gros Islet.
Bowlers to take hat-trick in WTC
Jasprit Bumrah (India) vs West Indies, Kingston 2019
Naseem Shah (Pakistan) vs Bangladesh, Rawalpindi 2020
Keshav Maharaj (South Africa) vs West Indies, Gros Islet 2021
Gus Atkinson (England) vs New Zealand, Wellington 2024
England bowlers to take hat-trick in Tests
Billy Bates vs Australia, Melbourne 1883
Johnny Briggs vs Australia, Sydney 1892
George Lohmann vs South Africa, Port Elizabeth 1896
Jack Hearne vs Australia, Leeds 1899
Maurice Allom vs New Zealand, Christchurch 1930
Tom Goddard vs South Africa, Johannesburg 1938
Peter Loader vs West Indies, Leeds 1957
Dominic Cork vs West Indies, Manchester 1995
Darren Gough vs Australia, Sydney 1999
Matthew Hoggard vs West Indies, Barbados 2004
Ryan Sidebottom vs New Zealand, Hamilton 2008
Stuart Broad vs India, Nottingham 2011
Stuart Broad vs Sri Lanka, Leeds 2014
Moeen Ali vs South Africa, The Oval 2017
Gus Atkinson vs New Zealand, Wellington 2024
Atkinson completed the set of innings with a figure of 4 for 31 in 8.5 overs in his maiden innings, as the four prized wickets also propelled him to No. 2 list of bowlers for most Test wickets in 2024. As far as concern of who is topping the list for wicket-takers in 2024, it is Bumrah, who sits at No. 1 position in ICC Test bowler’s rankings. The 31-year-old Indian star has so far in 11 Tests collected a total of 50 wickets. He achieved his 50th Test wicket in the year 2024 on Friday (December 6) against Australian opening batter Usman Khawaja.
Khawaja opened the innings for the Baggy Greens in the ongoing Day night Test match between India and Australia at Adelaide Oval, but he could not convert with big runs as he was caught by Rohit Sharma in slips off just 13 runs from 35 balls.
