Nathan Ellis
Nathan Ellis, Photo-Twitter

Australia’s 26-year-old Nathan Ellis became the first bowler to take a hat-trick on his T20I debut in the third T20I match against Bangladesh which was played at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium in Dhaka. Bangladesh, who leads the series 2-0, won the toss and decided to bat first.

It was a change of pace from the previous two T20Is where Australia batted first in the second match and struggled to put a good score on the board. Bangladesh had won the first match batting first despite putting up 131/7 in 20 overs. In this match, the hosts lost their first two wickets for single-digit scores with Mohammad Naim making 1 and Soumya Sarkar making 2.

Bangladesh vs Australia, 3rd T20I
Bangladesh vs Australia, 3rd T20I. (Photo: Twitter)

Then Shakib Al Hasan (26), Afif Hossain (19) aided captain Mahmudullah, who made 52 in 53 balls with 7 fours to take Bangladesh to 127/9 in 20 overs. Josh Hazlewood (2/16) and Adam Zampa (2/24) were the early damagers, but Nathan Ellis made the match memorable for himself.

Nathan Ellis- Third Australian To Take A T20I Hat-Trick

The 26-year-old, who was handed the Australian cap by senior pacer Mitchell Starc and he made the match extremely memorable by becoming the third Australian to take a T20I hat-trick and made it even special by achieving the feat on his T20I debut, becoming the first bowler to do so.

Ellis’ efforts, which saw him finish with figures reading 3/34 in four overs, as he dismissed Mahmudullah, Mustafizur Rahman and Mahedi Hasan in the final over of the Bangladesh innings. Ellis had a dreadful start leaking runs in his initial overs. However, the bowler recovered well in the death overs, which was enough to put his side in a formidable position in the contest.

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Nathan Ellis, Photo-Twitter
Nathan Ellis, Photo-Twitter

Nathan Ellis was a reserve player in the Australia team but was drafted into the main squad after fast bowler Riley Meredith opted out due to injury. Apart from Ellis, the other Australian bowlers to take T20I hat-tricks are Brett Lee and Ashton Agar.

Apart from Ellis making his debut in place of Mitchell Starc, Australia made two more tweaks to their playing XI replacing Josh Philippe and Andrew Tye for Ben McDermott and Dan Christian in what is a must-win match for Australia, as Bangladesh lead the five-match series 2-0.

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