Andrew Tye, Samuel Badree script unique day in Indian Premier League history

When it rains, it pours. And Friday was a day of hat-tricks in the Indian Premier League. West Indies leg spinner Samuel Badree made a memorable debut for Royal Challengers Bangalore by taking three-in-three versus Mumbai Indians at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

In the night, it was the turn of an Australian pacer from Perth, Andrew Tye, who made a massive impression for Gujarat Lions on his IPL debut by grabbing a hat-trick against Rising Pune Supergiant, finishing with a superb 5/17.

Read | IPL 2017: Kieron Pollard stars as MI beat RCB despite Samuel Badree hattrick

Badree, 36, dismissed Parthiv Patel, Mitchell McClenaghan and skipper Rohit Sharma off consecutive deliveries in the third over, in his happy hunting ground.

The spinner took 3/12, striking thrice in 10 deliveries, in the World T20 win over Sri Lanka last year in Bangalore. However, his Trinidad teammate Kieron Pollard rallied MI to victory with a blistering half-century.

Read | Andrew Tye takes hattrick as Gujarat Lions restrict Rising Pune Supergiant to 171/8

MI’s Kiwi paceman, Mitchell McClenaghan said: “That (hat-trick against us) was a terrible thing for a start. Badree is a world class bowler for a long time. He took a hat-trick in this match and put us on the backfoot, and almost put us on a position where there was no way back.”

Perth-based Tye had to wait three years to get his maiden IPL match. And when it finally arrived, the 30-year-old made it unforgettable. Tye removed Ankit Sharma (25), Manoj Tiwary (31) and Shardul Thakur (0) with the first three deliveries of the final over.

Ankit Sharma holed out to square leg, and Tiwary, who missed the last match following his father’s death, went next with Thakur bowled for zero on his debut for RPS. Tye marked a dramatic turnaround for Lions, who took only one wicket in the first two matches together.

Still, Tye’s figures are only the ninth best IPL bowling. Two have taken six wickets, Pakistan’s Sohail Tanveer and Aussie leg spinner, Adam Zampa. Tye’s is the seventh best among five-wicket hauls.

There have been 16 hattricks in the IPL, with 13 bowlers accounting for them. Delhi Daredevils leg spinner, Amit Mishra, has taken the most hattricks, three.

The IPL hattrick heroes’ list includes Yuvraj Singh, who achieved the feat twice for Kings XI Punjab, against RCB and the now-defunct Deccan Chargers. Rohit Sharma did it for DC, against MI, all three hattricks coming in 2009.