On this day: Australian fast bowler Brett Lee achieved first ever hat-trick in T20I cricket

Lee reached the milestone against Bangladesh in the inaugral ICC T20I World Cup 2007 held in South Africa

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On September 16, 2007, Australian fast-bowler Brett lee became the first bowler to take a T20I hat-trick. Lee achieved the landmark against Bangladesh in the inaugural T20I World Cup, held in South Africa.

The group stage match between Australia and Bangladesh was played at Newlands, Cape Town. Ricky Ponting-led Aussies won the toss and chose to field first. The subcontinent side were playing reasonably well after vital contributions at the start from Tamim Iqbal and Aftab Ahmed.

#OnThisDay in 2007, Australia quick Brett Lee became the first player to claim a hat-trick in T20I cricket #T20TakesOff pic.twitter.com/UTuIwpbl6G — ICC (@ICC) September 16, 2020

Ponting brought on Lee for his second spell in-order to get some breakthroughs. With the score reading 108-3 after 16.2 overs, Bangladesh were looking at a decent total. But Lee, one of the fastest bowlers of all time, removed Shakib-Al-Hasan, Mashrafe Mortaza, and Alok Kapali in the next three deliveries to completely turn the tide in the favour of the Kangaroos.

Lee returned impressive figures of 3-27 from his allotted four overs. As a result of his exploits, Bangladesh finished at a miserly 123/8.

Australia chased down the target in just 13.5 overs, winning by 9 wickets. Mathhew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist went on a rampage, hitting a flurry of boundaries and engaging in a 104-run opening stand. Hayden remained unbeaten on 73* and wrapped-up the victory.

Since then, 13 hat-tricks have been taken in T20I cricket and Sri Lankan talisman Lasith Malinga is the only bowler to reach the milestone twice. He has picked-up hat-tricks against Bangladesh and New Zealand.

Fast bowler Deepak Chahar is the only Indian to have taken a hat-trick in T20I cricket – a feat he accomplished against Bangladesh last year.

Brett Lee was a vital member of the Australian side during their heydays in the 2000’s. He played 25 T20I’s and picked up 28 wickets at a decent economy rate of 7.86.

The New South Wales native is more recognised for his performances in ODI’s and Test matches. In ODI’s he picked up 380 wickets from 221 matches while in the longest format, he took 310 wickets from 76 Tests.

Perhaps the fastest bowler to take the field, Lee, retired from international cricket in 2012.