Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa could have become the third bowler in this T20 World Cup to take a hattrick and the fourth overall but wicket-keeper, Matthew Wade, denied him the opportunity.
The incident took place during the Super 12 match between Bangladesh and Australia in Dubai. During the Bangla innings, Zampa was breathing fire, taking wickets at will. In the 11th over of the innings, Zampa took two wickets off the last two balls.
On his hattrick ball, he induced an edge off Taskin Ahmed’s willow but Wade failed to hang on to a regulation catch behind the stumps. The Aussie wicket-keeper was distraught and the two had an on-field exchange that was caught on the stump mic.
Zampa ended with figures of 5/19 in his four overs, becoming the bowler with the best figures in this tournament. It is the best bowling figure for an Australian bowler, bettering James Faulkner’s 5/27 against Pakistan in the 2016 T20 World Cup.
His five-wicket haul was instrumental in restricting Bangladesh to their second-lowest total in T20 World Cups – 73. It was easily chased down by the Aussies, with Aaron Finch scoring a blazing 20-ball 40 and Mitchell Marsh finishing the game off in style.
With the win, the Aussies have a better net run rate than South Africa and are now sitting in second place in Group 1, behind table-toppers England. The final round of matches of this group will be played on November 6, Saturday, which will decide the two semifinalists from Group 1.