Ireland left-arm pacer Joshua Little took a brilliant hat-trick against New Zealand in the Super 12 match of the ICC T20 World Cup at the Adelaide Oval, Adelaide on Friday. This is only the second the hat-trick of this year's T20 World Cup. Earlier, UAE's Karthik Meiyappan took a hat-trick against Sri Lanka. Little removed New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, Jimmy Neesham and Mitchell Santner. Ireland is the only team in the Men’s T20 World Cup history that has produced two hat-tricks. Earlier, Curtis Campher took a hat-trick in 2021.



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Here's how Joshua Little took hat-trick against New Zealand - Watch


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Earlier, Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie won the toss and elected to field. While Ireland are already out of semi-final contention, the Adelaide Oval contest is a crucial one for the Kiwis as they try and cement a top two finish in Group 1. Currently, Australia, England and New Zealand have five points with one game to go, but only two teams will progress to the final four. If all three teams end up winning their remaining encounters, it will come down to net run rate to decide the two semi-finalists from this group.


The Kiwis will certainly be ahead in that race owing to the massive net run rate difference. What they can't afford here is a loss as that will certainly clear the path for England and Australia, provided they win their remaining matches. That's what Kane Williamson's men will look to avoid in this contest. Ireland may be out of the semi-final race already but they have already shown that they are a force to reckon with on their day. They have already taken a giant down in this tournament as they defeated England in a rain-hit encounter and that speaks volumes of their ability as a team. Both teams have named unchanged XIs for the encounter.


New Zealand: Finn Allen, Devon Conway (wk), Kane Williamson (c), Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult


Ireland: Paul Stirling, Andrew Balbirnie (c), Lorcan Tucker (wk), Harry Tector, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Gareth Delany, Mark Adair, Barry McCarthy, Fionn Hand, Joshua Little